


Convergence

by NHMoonshadow



Series: The Wayward Ones [6]
Category: Supernatural, Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers Generation One
Genre: Case Fic, Gen, Mild Blood and Gore, Past Child Abuse, Road Trip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-24
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-02-26 22:17:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2668379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NHMoonshadow/pseuds/NHMoonshadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A dark chapter of Jodi's past comes to a close. The resulting road trip shows both Jodi and Barricade that earth holds more secrets than either of them realized. Wayward Ones Verse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Read Disregarded first! This is the next installment of the Wayward One's Verse. This is set in the middle of Fulminata Coil's fic Stranger than Frisson, but the events are separate. Chapter One will be poster in December. See you next month everybody! -Shadow

Jodi stood over the gravestone, her fists clenched so tightly that her arms were shaking. Her eyes were hot, bordering on stinging, but she refused to cry.

The bastard didn’t deserve her tears.

She could feel Barricade’s Holoform standing behind her, his presence warm and solid, and faintly humming with static. Needing the support, she leaned back into him, and he silently draped an arm around her shoulders. Her hands came up to grip his forearm, grounding herself and resting her chin there.

“Feel free to spit on the grave,” Riley piped up, flicking the end of his cigarette, completely uncaring of the ash that rained down over the freshly piled dirt. “I could always do it for you. Lord knows I’ve been thinking about it.”

Jodi snorted into ‘Cade’s arm. “Nah, don’t bother. Not even worth the effort.”

“I gotcha, just offering.”

It was unreal seeing the words “David Hunter” etched into a fresh slab of marble. Jodi’s last blood relative now lay six feet under, never to see another day.

She was nearly sick with the relief.

When they got the call Jodi had to hand the phone over to Riley, or risk laughing hysterically at the lawyer when he said "my condolences". They were summoned to the will reading, or rather Jodi was, but being her guardian to the human legal system that meant Riley went too.

Barricade went without being asked, and no one was stupid enough to demand that he stay behind.

The long and short of it, uncle David was dead, mauled in sort of freak dog attack at his beachfront home down by Monterey.

Due to some sort of legal loophole (because there was no way this was intentional) Jodi was the sole inheritor of her uncle's estate and all the assets he had. Even before counting his part of the law firm and his stock shares, Jodi was looking at an obscene amount of money. When Jodi had told her uncle's lawyer to just give her a figure, her jaw dropped at the estimate. She hadn't expected so many zeroes attatched to it.

Just like the lawyer didn't expect her to turn around and say "sell it". 

And she meant _everything_ , her portion of the firm, the houses in Palo Alto and Monterey, the summer villa her uncle apparently had overseas, she didn't want _any_ of it, and no amount of arguing could convince her otherwise.

She would have full access to everything on her eighteenth birthday, but until then she was alloted a small monthly allowance. Said allowance was enough for her to be renting her own apartment if she wanted. Even then she would have enough to take care of a car payment, if she had a car that is.

Jodi was still processing that not only was she was set for life, but she could blow it all on frivolous bullshit and still have cash left over.

God, she was glad she wasn't that kind of person.

Once they had left the office, Jodi tried to pawn some of the dough off to Riley.

He had snorted at her. "No way kid. I think you deserve it way more than me, and besides, this means I'm officially off the hook for paying any college fees, you can do it yourself. Tell ya what, in the remote chance you manage to actually blow up my house, you can buy me a new one with a pool and acerage. We'll call it square."

They laughed, chuckling all the way back to the parking lot where Barricade was waiting.

Jodi shook herself free from the day's events, and turned to where Riley was still glaring at the headstone. "We don't have to go right back to Tranquility, do we?"

Riley tossed the butt of his cigarette to the bare dirt of the fresh grave and crushed it with his heel. "Well, you two don't, but I'm on shift tomorrow night. I can only leave Prowl for so long before the chief rides my ass about dumping paperwork on my partner."

Barricade gave a low chuckle, the vibrations of it traveling right through Jodi's chest. "When we were in the Enforcers, I would leave the paperwork to Prowl whenever possible. He would complain, of course, but I think he secretly likes filling out forms."

"Wouldn't put it past him."

As much as Jodi enjoyed watching the two of them get along, she poked Riley with the toe of her shoe. "You think Optimus would let 'Cade and I take the long way home?"

"Road trip, huh?" He scrubbed a hand through his auburn hair. "As long as there's a flight available to take me home, I don't see why not. Especially after the assistance with Lia. I'm sure they'll slap you guys with some ridiculous rule or other, but I'll make the call. Just be ready to drop me off at an airport."


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year everyone! What better way to herald in the new year than an update? And a relatively lengthy one for me. Please read the notes at the bottom, and as always Thank You for reading! Feedback is much loved and highly appreciated!

 

It was almost euphoric being on the road again.

No range limit, no check ins every three hours. Nothing but wide spaces and open roads. It was almost like their early days all over again, only so much better.

Barricade was no longer on the run. He was whole, pain-free to boot, and was steadily mending the burnt bridge between himself and Prowl. Jodi no longer had the threat of her uncle lurking in the back of her mind like the boogey man. Seeing his grave in person did wonders for easing her mind that he was out of her life for good. Her scars were numerous but healed, and the damage done to her vision had been neutralized by Ratchet's little optic implant.

They were healthy, they were free, and in the first time ever they could go wherever they damn well pleased.

Riley had been right about the restrictions, but they were much lighter than any of them expected. Jodi had to have either her dog-tags or com unit on her at all times. Two daily check-ins were required from at least one of them, and absolutely no use of Barricade's newly activated weaponry for anything short of a Decepticon attack.

Pretty sweet deal all in all.

They were on day two of their vacation and Jodi was in absolute heaven.

She sat the way she liked best when riding shotgun, with one knee tucked up to her chest, the other stetched to the floorboard and her temple resting against the cool glass of Barricade's window. They were drifting along a mountain highway, one that twisted its way through sprawling forests and had only a few smatterings of civilization dotted along it's narrow path.

"Well?"

With a start, Jodi realized Barricade had been talking to her. Her eyes turned to his holoform. "Sorry, what?"

His posture and glare said annoyance, but there was an amused lilt to his voice that gave him away. "I _asked_ if you wanted to stop somewhere soon. By now you are usually demanding food, needy human that you are."

She swung a boot up to playfully kick at the dashboard. "Don't be an asshole."

"Ignoring the truth is far from healthy."

"You are so full of shit. You've met Lydia! I'm about as needy as a pet rock in comparison." Jodi to a moment to asses herself. "But I could eat. Feel free to stop at the next sit-down joint, it'll be nice to stretch my legs for a bit."

"Like I said: needy human."

"Don't act like you actually want me eating in your cab." She narrowed her eyes at him. "And just for that comment we're also gonna find a motel."

"You're not helping your case."

He chuckled at her as she punched the arm of his holoform and then delivered a more meaningful kick to the dash.

The two of them fell into a companionable silence.

They had taken I-80 out of California and had wound their way straight through Nevada, following the road all the way into Salt Lake City where they had spent the night. Barricade, in a rare show of selfless generosity, had let her sleep in and as a result didn't make it back on the road until after noon. Not like they were going anywhere in particular, and Jodi really did enjoy the novelty of waking up on her own, without the blare of insistent chirping of an alarm.

From Salt Lake City they wound south and then east on US-40, letting the road take them further and further into the mountains.

Some twenty minutes after their bickering session, they drifted into a small town called Banton, which poudly stated that they had a population of 873.

Jodi frowned at the sign, unused to being anywhere where the population was less than 2,000 people. That included the Autobot base, which now housed around 30 Cybertronians and some 3,000 human military personnel at any given time.

But, there was a decent looking diner at the first intersection with an actual traffic light, so Jodi held out hope for overnight lodgings.

But food first.

Jodi stepped out of the car, interlocked her fingers and stretched her hands up and over her head, groaning when something gave a satisfying pop. She breathed deep, taking in the crisp November air, noting the fresh sent of the surrounding woodland and the lingering possibility of snow. She counted them lucky that it had been an unusually warm fall season for Colorado, and so they didn't have to contend with much snow.

Yet.

"I thought you were hungry."

"I didn't know you were in such a hurry," she bit back, but with no heat behind the words. Jodi closed Barricade's door before following the impatient holoform into the diner.

A set of bells chimed as the door swung close behind them, summoning a middle aged woman from the back. She gave them a polite smile. "Good evening! Welcome to Susie's! Just the two of you?" She grabbed a few menus as they nodded. "Right this way."

Out of the corner of her eye Jodi saw Barricade pause by the service counter, picking up an abandoned newspaper that lay forgotten there. If the hostess noticed that he grabbed it, she didn't comment on it, quickly showing them to a booth, plopped a menu in front of each of them and said that someone would be by to take their order soon.

They settled in across from eachother, Barricade spreading out the paper to read. Jodi's lips tugged up in a small smile, her eyes flicking to his true form, which was parked just outside the window.

It must have been a slow day, because the parking lot only had three other cars sitting in it. Given that there was only one other solo patron sitting off by the corner, Jodi assumed that the rest belonged to employees. She sincerely hoped that this was due to it being a slow time and not because of the quality of their food.

Knowing Barricade wasn't going to order anything, Jodi flipped open her own menu and debated how non-healthy she wanted dinner to be. Another perk of being out of the house was missing out on Prowl shoving healthy choices at her. She had a sneaking suspition that Ratchet had something to do with that one.

Thank God Riley didn't really enforce it.

Then again, if Jodi didn't make it a point to drop off food at the station occasionally she doubted her human Guardian would remember to eat half the time.

Coming to a quick decision, she closed the menu and set it face-down on the table just in time to spot a woman with an apron and a notepad heading their way.

Their waitress was a bright bubbly thing, late twenties, with her hair pulled into a short ponytail that was so poofy it was distracting. She offered them a cheerful grin, eyes lingering on Barricade a tad longer than what was strictly professional. "Welcome travelers! What can I get started for you two?"

"I'd like a coke and your barbeque ranch burger, please," Jodi said before offering up her menu.

"Kid with an appetite, I like that." She missed Jodi's dour expression to her 'kid' comment as she promptly turned to Barricade's holoform, all smiles. "How about you, handsome?"

True to form, Barricade didn't even bother to look up from whatever he was reading, his attention clearly elsewhere. "Nothing for me."

"No? You sure? I can personally guarantee we have the best burgers in the county," she tempted.

Jodi watched in amusement as the waitress, Beth, according to her nametag, tried to coax him to look at her.

He spared her a fleeting glance and nothing more. A clear dismissal. "Positive."

She looked like she wanted to pout, but recovered with a playful smile. "Well then, I'll put in your sister's order and if you change your mind-"

"We're not related."

"Oh." Jodi saw the wheels turning, Beth's eyes bugging out as she came to the same conclusion everyone at Tranquility High came to last year. " _Oh_. I'm sorry I- um." Her eyes flickered between them before hastily scribbling down Jodi's order. "I'll put your order in and I'll be right back with that coke."

She hurried away, cheeks red.

Once the waitress was out of earshot Jodi threw a sugar packet at Barricade's face. "You didn't have to do that. It's bad enough all of Tranquility think we're like that!"

Unfazed, those red eyes kept that laser-focus glued to the paper even as a smirk crept across his face. "I didn't hear you correcting her on her assumption."

"I'm not supposed to be the responsible one in these sort of situations."

"I believe you are mistaking me for your other guardian, the shorter one with a squishy body."

"Only you would descibe Riley as squishy. The guy has almost no body fat as it is."

A shrug. "Not my fault that your species developed like it did."

"Uh huh." Any further comment died on her tongue when Beth came back with Jodi's soda, sliding it in front of the teen and then quickly excusing herself.

They fell back into their comfortable silence as Barricade went back to his newspaper and Jodi unwrapped her straw to take a sip of her coke.

The quiet held until after Jodi's food came, Barricade's deep voice pulling her from her meal.

"Maybe we should move on to the next town before we stop for the night. "

Jodi had the decency to swallow her food before opening her mouth. "Why's that?"

He slid the paper to her side of the table, pointing at the main article.

**Second Body Found In Colorado River.**

As Jodi began to read through it, she quickly agreed with him. Apparently there had been a woman found washed up on the river bank nearby, body bled out and skin carved up with what was described as 'occult symbols' all over her torso. This was the second body discovered in under a week. Thankfully, there were no photos of the bodies, but there were pictures of the two victims from when they were alive, a man and a woman respectively. The man had been identified as a Denver native, while the woman had been local. They had no connection other than the situation surrounding their deaths.

Man, people were fucked up.

Not that Jodi needed that reminder.

In a concious effort to keep from touching the scar over her right eye Jodi handed the paper back to Barricade and snatched up a fry from her plate. "I'm perfectly happy to miss out on being brutally murdered, thanks."

"I think we can both agree to that."

As Barricade accepted his paper back, Jodi's eyes were drawn to the low rumble of a V8 engine. A large classic Chevy rolled into the lot, pulling up to the spot beside 'Cade. The car was older than it's passengers, the paint and chrome pristine in a way that spoke of dedicated care.

Old vehicles always reminded her of her father, and his preferance for older Ford and Chevy models, regardless of the work it took to keep in shape. Jodi smiled at the fond memories those stirred up, using them to brush away the lingering darkness the article brought up.

The two men sitting inside the Chevy seemed to be in an animated debate about something. Since they clearly weren't in a hurry to exit the car, Jodi quickly dismissed them and turned back to her food, taking another large bite of her burger.

She had to hand it to Beth, the woman hadn't been lying about the quality of their burgers.

As if summoned by the mere thought of her, Beth appeared by their table, her earlier embarassment seemingly under control. Once more she was all flashing teeth. "How is everything?"

Mouth still full, Jodi gave the woman a thumbs up.

Her eyes turned once more to Barricade. "Have you changed your mind at all, or are you still okay over here?"

The bells jangled on the door.

Their waitress perked up as the two tall men in suits stepped into the waiting area. A quick glance outside confirmed that they were the old Chevy's occupants. Beth shot them the same flirty smile that had failed on 'Cade. "Agents! Welcome back!" She swept her hand over the mostly empty lobby. "Pick a spot and I'll be right with you."

In an instant Beth had Barricade's full and undivided attention in a way that set warning bells off in the back of Jodi's mind. "Agents?"

Beth turned and seemed delighted to finally have his attention and gave him an eager nod. "Yep! Special Agents Townsend and Daltrey." She leaned in a little closer, as if divulging a great secret. "According to my brother, he's the deputy you see, they're here to investigate the deaths of those poor people found in the river. FBI here in our own small town, it's crazy. Like something right out of a movie, don't you think?"

As she scurried away, Jodi nudged Barricade with her foot. "What's wrong?"

"I have no idea who those men are, but they are not FBI."

"What makes you say that?"

"We've both been around enough government officials." He lifted a subtle finger in their direction. "What's wrong with that picture?"

Mismatched green eyes zeroed in on the men in question, her recently restored right eye allowing her to see extra crisp details. She bit her lip as she tried to spot what didn't fit.

The two men sat across from eachother in a nearby booth, papers spread out between them as the continued their discussion in quiet tones. The one facing her seemed to have to origami his legs so they would fit under the table.

"They're a little young," Jodi noted quietly, "The taller one is _too_ young."

"What else besides the obvious?"

Oh God, he was turning this into a training session. She sighed and looked again, trying not to be obvious about it.

"Well, that hair is a bit long to be regulation." She paused for a minute, mentally comparing them to other government types she had met over the last two years. "No shoulder holsters that I've seen, and I don't remember seeing anything on their belts. But I wasn't paying that much attention when they came in, so that doesn't mean anything." She tapped the table lightly with her palm. "That's all I got."

"You missed an obvious one."

She raised an expectant eyebrow. "Which is . . ?"

He pointed outside.

Jodi's eyes tracked back to the old Chevy parked next to Barricade.

She blinked.

The car was pretty but it was at least thirty years old. The agents she had seen in person drove a wide variaty of assigned cars. However, the oldest car she had seen was barely pushing eight years old.

This was clearly someone's personal car.

Huh.

"Also, take note on how one of them keeps going for his tie, and then stops mid-motion. Odds are, they are not used to wearing it and are trying not to show it."

Jodi turned a narrowed eyed look in Barricade's direction, propping her chin up in her palm. "I didn't realize you paid that much attention to other humans."

Which was a polite way of saying that Jodi was more than aware of the contempt he held for the human race as a whole. The was only a handful of humans he tolerated on a regular basis and even less who's company he actually enjoyed.

He snorted. "I was a Scout and an Enforcer before that. Observant was in the job description." The lips of his holoform twitched upward, hinting at a smug smirk. "Plus, I may or may not have been listening in on their conversation earlier. Trust me when I say they are not FBI."

Jodi's look was flat. "And Riley complains I evesdrop too much," she grumbled, pulling her soda towards her to take a quick sip. "So . . . what are we gonna do about it?" She frowned at her companion. "Are we gonna do something about it?"

"Of course. We're leaving as soon as you're done eating."

The hand supporting her head dropped to the table. "What? Why?"

"If I remember correctly, you were just going on about _not_ getting brutally murdered."

"So we're just gonna let some imposters run around?" she hissed, keeping her voice low. "What if _they_ are the murderers?"

Barricade scoffed. "Doubtful. From they sound of it, they _are_ investigating the deaths, if doing so illegally. If they were guilty, they would have to be complete morons to draw this kind of attention to themselves."

"But you just pointed out they're fake FBI."

"Yes. But that doesn't automatically make them the culprits. Criminals, certainly. But either way, it's none of our business and we're staying out of it."

Jodi bit her thumb as an idea struck her, laid out all nice and neat in her minds eye. "But what if we didn't?"

Blood red eyes narrowed in a suspitious squint. "Whatever idea you have concocted, the answer is no."

"I haven't even said anything yet! My idea might even help us out in the long run."

He gave her a hard stare. She met his steely gaze and held it, lacing her fingers together as she firmly planted her elbows on the table. She could be just as stubborn as Barricade was when she set her mind to it, and both of them knew it.

The ex-Decepticon caved first. He gave a huffy sigh and leaned back in his bench, long arms crossing over his broad chest. "Let's hear it then."

"Well . . ." She reached for her drink, absently twirling her straw between two fingers as she gathered her thoughts. "We were let off leash 'cause we were helpful with Lia, right?" She waited for his grudging nod. "So imagine if we outed a few phoney Feds."

"Every government official I've had the priveledge of meeting was completely convinced of their own superiority. Why would I go out of my way to do their job for them? Let them figure it out on their own."

"I'm not saying we do their job for them." She tapped her finger against her glass. "I'm saying we do just a tiny bit of digging. If it's nothing and they're harmless, then we skip town. If we find something worth while, we can tip off Prowl and let them take it for there. If we're useful on the road, maybe they'll be more inclined to let us roam a bit more often."

His stare was thoroughly unconvinced.

She pointed a finger at him. "Don't you dare tell me you'd rather be stuck in Tranquility. I know you love being on the road at _least_ as much as me. A little snooping in exchance for more free reign sounds like a fair trade to me."

Barricade remained unmoved.

It was time to bring out the big guns.

"Shouldn't be that hard for you, anyway. I thought snooping was a specialty of yours. Prowl once told me the two of you were some of the best investigators back home."

Well, more like _implied_ , but a little embellishment couldn't hurt her case here. In a rare moment of nostalgia while Barricade was not around, Prowl had once shared some fond memories of the brothers early days on Cybertron, long before the war. Given that the two of them were still mending the bridge between them, the details had been rather sparse and the stories themselves rather short. But from what Jodi had gathered, the two of them had been a near unstoppable back in their days as Enforcers, and after seeing the two of them work together to track down Lia, she didn't doubt it.

Barricade's fingers tapped against his elbows, expression torn. At long last, the holoform gave a long and frustrated groan. "Alright. Fine. I will do a little digging, and maybe a bit of surveillance. But first, we are checking into a room and you are going to stay there until I get back." Jodi opened her houth to protest, Barricade steamrolled right over her. "Regardless of how much training we've given you, you are not battle ready. Plus I'm not willing to let you deliberately put yourself in harms way."

Again went unsaid, but the word hung heavy between them.

Jodi squirmed in her seat, suddenly hyper aware of the drag of her shirt and heavy jacket against the scar tissue running along her back. She resisted the urgent need to scratch at them, settling for tracing thin fingers along the old burn on her arm instead.

Her gaze dropped to her soda, focusing her eyes on the bubbles floating up through the ice. "It's just a little recon," she murmured. "Probably no fighting at all."

A large palm settled over hers, stilling her hand. She followed the attatched arm up to the holoform's face. His expression was still stern, but familiarily pointed out the honest concern there. "After everything we've had to go through, do you really think I'd take that chance?"

She turned up her palm and gave his forearm a light squeeze, taking comfort from the soft electric buzz coming off the holoform's skin. "I'm not made of glass, ya know."

"A fact that you've made quite clear to all who've met you." That brought a small smile back to Jodi's face. "However, how terrible would it be if something were to happen on our first unmonitored outing? They'll put put me right back in the brig, and they'll inevitably blame me for anything and everything that goes wrong from here on out."

"Oh, so you're only worried about you're own freedom, huh?"

"Of course."

She shoved his arm away from her with a grin. "Jerk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so our pair get their first glimpse of our favorite hunters! There was so much banter in this chapter, I'd forgotten how easy it was between Jodi and 'Cade to be quite honest with you. Half this chapter just about wrote itself, especially when our favorite ex-Decepticon flipped the serious switch on at the end there.
> 
> Anyway to help herald in the new year (and to keep my writing flow), I was planning on posting one small snippet a day for the month of January. Each one will be at least 200 words, but knowing me some might be longer. Some will be part of the Wayward Ones 'Verse and some will be strictly Supernatural. Have a request or just want to throw me ideas? Feel free to comment or PM me! See you all in 2015! -Shadow


	3. Chapter 2

 

"So how's the wide blue open?"

Jodi's lips twitched into a quirky smile as she made a slow lap around the hotel room. "Good enough." She paused at the window to poke the sad lampshade on the nightstand. The poor thing was probably old in the seventies. "The accomidations could be better though. This place makes a Motel 6 look like a five star resort.

Riley chuckled on the other line. "If it's that bad you don't have to stay there."

"There is literally _no where else_ in this tiny spec of a town."

"Welcome to the sticks."

"No shit." She snatched up a pen that had been abandoned, twirling it absently between her fingers as she continued her circuit. "Alright, be honest with me. How many people are freaking out that 'Cade and I are at large?"

"No one."

She glared at the wall since the man wasn't there to recieve it. " _Riley_."

"Maybe a few people," he conceded. "Not as many as you would think. Ironhide. Red. the usual paranoid crew."

"Prowl?"

"Using this time to exercise his trust in your ability to look after each other."

Something warm spread behind her ribs, lightening her mood even further. The brothers had been making huge strides in recent months, and this was a particularly big one for Prowl. Jodi held high hopes for the future, but she also knew Prowl. Without his resident parolees to keep close tabs on, he would be directing his focus ellsewhere. "So. Who has the misfortune of having Prowl's undevided attention?"

Riley's laughter rang sharply through the speaker. "Well, currently Sunny and Sides. However we also just got a new transfer from Phoenix, fresh from the academy. Poor kid isn't gonna know what hit 'em."

Jodi gave a sympathetic wince. "Well, we'll be back in less than a week. Hopefully he hasn't chased him off by then."

"Her, but yeah, hopefully not. If she works out I'm hoping she'll be transferred permanantly to Missing Persons. We could use some young blood." He cleared his throat. "Meant to ask, is your new implant giving you any problems?"

Jodi spun on her heel and flopped on the bed, grunting at the stiffness in the springs. "Is that you or Ratchet talking?"

"Er, both?"

"Uh huh."

"Just answer the question kid."

Jodi took stock. She chewed her lip, lifting her free hand infront of her face right in front of her nose before extending it as far as she could reach. The adjustment in focus was smooth, the right eye focusing a second faster than it's unaltered twin. "It's fine. No headaches or eyestrain, and I haven't noticed any glitches or anything, but I also haven't tried out any of the nifty new features Ratch put in either. Not outside my initial tutorial anyway."

"Well, thats good at least. I'll pass the update on to the Hatchet tomorrow.” There was a long and reluctant sigh. “I should let you go. I have a few reports I still need to go through before I crash for the night."

"Alright. Later Riley."

"Goodnight kiddo."

Jodi smiled as the call disconnected. She rolled over to toss her phone on the nightstand. With their check-in taken care of she debated how to spend her time until Barricade came back from his little surveillance field trip. Jodi had packed light, so unfortunately that meant she left anything she could use to entertain herself back at home.

With a groan she rolled off the bed to rummage in her backpack for some spare change.  
If she was going to play the waiting game then she was going to raid the vending machines and see what sort of cable the motel had to offer. With some luck maybe there would be some kind of movie marathon going on.

 

“You sure you don’t want to hit the bar with me? Maybe hustle a little pool?”

Sam huffed, flipping through a stapled set of papers and highlighting bits that he thought could lead to something. He grimaced as they hit a pothole, making his newest line go a bit astray. “I’d rather double check the lore and try to see if we missed something. Maybe Dad's journal will have something.”

“Dude, I’m telling you there’s no hunt here.”

“We don’t know that. Something’s obviously killing people.”

“Yeah. Some whack-job who thinks he’ll scare the cops by carving up his vics.”

Sam glared at Dean, dripping disapproval. “Really? What about the drained blood? The marks found on the body? There is a case here, I know it.”

Dean taps out a rythym in tune with the radio, ignoring Sam's expression. "If you want to spend your night being a nerd thats great, but if we still have no leads by tomorrow we're skipping town. We're wasting time."

The small lead weight that had been sitting in Sam's stomach since his brother came waltzing back into his life sank a little lower, reminding him that it was there. He grit his teeth and sighed harshly through his nose. Usually he was the one who got impatient and questioned what they were doing.

If there was no case then they could be focusing on more urgent matters.

Like finding Dad.

Like finding Jessica's killer.

Sam ran a hand through his slightly floppy hair and took a slower, more steadying breath, dispelling images of fire and blood. Now was not the time. "Fine. If I don't find anything, we leave."

Sam's gut insisted there was _something_ in this town, or in the woods surrounding it.

Whoever, _whatever_ , was killing people didn't follow any specific MO that he recognized. The bodies were whole, with all organs intact, the blood was drained as thoroughly as any vamp or chupacabara.

The victims were found in two different sections of the river, and according to a local map there was nearly half a dozen tributing creeks between them. It was difficult to say wether the bodies were dumped directly or had been washed downstream. There were nearly a dozen old roads winding themselves through the woods, too many to check out before Dean's deadline.

He hoped they could narrow down the search. He would hate to leave only to find there was a monster here after all. With any luck Sam would be able to make some headway while Dean had his night on the town.

Soon they pulled up to their motel, the impala coming to a halt at the curb instead of the parking lot. Sam gave Dean a dirty look but gathered up his things none the less.

"Last call, sure you don't want to knock a few back?"

"Nah," Sam raised his papers with one hand while he opened the door with the other. "I'll see if I can get us a lead."

"Your loss."

Sam slammed the door behind himself and patted the roof of the car. His brother flashed a grin and a mock salute before he peeled out. He shook his head as the tailights dissapeared around the corner.

He sent up an absent prayer that Dean wouldn't bring one of his one-night flings back to their room. While the Impala might actually be more comfortable than the excuse for a bed waiting for him, it would be extremely annoying to have to move his laptop and books just for Dean's libido.

With that on his mind, Sam stepped away from the sidewalk and towards the long row of motel rooms. It wasn't surprising to find the parking lot just as empty as they left it this morning. The accomidations were bad even by Winchester low-standards.

Key in hand, Sam paused at their room and made to unlock the door. He halted when several thumps and a metallic clank caught his attention followed by low cursing.

Now onn high alert, he pocketed his keys and his papers and cautiously approached the corner, right hand drifting back to the gun stashed in the waistband of his slacks. He rounded the turn, forcing himself to relax and straighten up at the scene laid out before him.

There, crouched in front of the vending machines, was a girl. She was small, with a messy ponytail obscuring her face, and clothes that looked warm enough, but were clearly not up to Colorado's normal frigid temperatures. She had twisted her arm up through the bottom of the snack machine, trying to reach a bag of chips that got caught halfway down.

And she was arguing with the machine.

"Come on you stupid son of a bitch," she huffed, straining her fingers a tad higher. "I've dealt with bigger, badder machines than you. I swear to god I'm gonna come back with screwdriver and a pair of pliers and I'm gonna-"

"Are you alright?"

The girl froze, her head snapping to stare at Sam as he made his presence known. Her eyes found his legs first and then tracked upwards, eyes widening as she took him in.

Sam couldn't help the vauge sense of deja vu that rang through him. She was young, her round face and wide eye making her look younger. Mid-teens, Sam would bet money on it, but he was certain he didn't see her back when they were interviewing the locals.

He brushed the feeling off, filing it away, but determining it to be nothing.

"Are you alright?" he repeated.

"Um, yes?" She visibly swallowed as she withdrew her hand, pointing at her stuck snack. "It won't give me my Doritos though." _I swear I wasn't stealing_ her tone said, and it was then that Sam remembered that he was still in his Fed suit.

Oh.

He offered a disarming smile, taking a small step forward "May I?"

"Uh, okay." She stood and stepped aside as he took her place. He assessed the ancient machine for all of two seconds before grabbing the top of the unit and gave the whole thing three stategic shakes. With a muted thunk the girl's snack dropped to the dispenser below. Sam grabbed it and offered it with a smile.

She stared at him for a long moment, her brows slightly pinched together as she examined his outsteached hand, suspition seeping into her posture. A slight tilt of her head revealed a slightly milky right eye, a fine silvery line running over the eyelids and up to disappear the eyebrow.

There was that sense of deja vu again, a fleeting impression of familiarity, but he couldn't place it for the life of him.  
Scars were common, a dime a dozen, but he couldn't remember a single case where a victim or a witness had a scar to match hers. Well a few, but they were all men well over thirty, and one of those had been strangled by the ghost of his ex-girlfriend.

After a full minute of careful scrutiny, the girl finally took the offered chips. "Thanks."

"Anytime." He gave another small smile. "Not the first time I've dealt with cranky vending machines."

"I'm sure." Her tone was a bit wary. She bit her lip, expression shifting towards thoughtful. "Are you one of the guys investigating the bodies that were found?"

"I am." Habit had him flashing his badge or good measure. "I'm Special Agent Townsend. If you know about that, then I'm surprised you're out here by yourself. It's not safe."

"You mean, like taking assistance from some strange guy I don't know?"

Sam suppressed a grin at her snark. "Touché." He took another small step back, giving her space and made an effort to keep his body language relaxed. "But, seriously. Have you noticed anything unusual, by chance?"

She shrugged. "Hard to say, just got in town this afternoon. Don't think we'll be staying long if bodies keep popping up. The waitress at the diner made it sound like they were popping up like daisies. Anything specific I should be on the lookout for?"

"Anything that seemes out of the ordinary." Sam pulled a pen and a scrap of paper from his pocket and began joting down his cell number. "Strange noises or smells. Anyone you notice that seems off or showing wierd behaviour. Anything out of the ordinary," He offered her the slip of scratch paper, "call that number."

She accepted the paper, tucking it in a back pocket. "I warn you, I have a broad definition of 'strange'.""

"Feel free to call anyway."

"Right." She seemed to gather herself up, straightening to her full and rather un-impressive height. "Well, on that note, see you around Agent. Thanks again."

Without another word she scurried around him to disappear around the same corner he came from.

Sam stood there for a few beats before turning to make his own retreat.

He rounded the corner, intending to finally get back to his own room, noting an open door several spaces down.

It took a long moment to realize that the girl he had just got done talking to was framed in the open doorway, grappling with a spindly limbed shape behind her, one hand clamped over her mouth, muffling her screams.

Sam bolted forward, gun in hand, looking for a clear shot on the target. As soon as the girl spotted Sam her eyes grew impossibly wide and she fought harder. She twisted in her attacker's grip, a well placed elbow loosening its hold enough to deliver a full uppercut to the thing's jaw. It dropped her, the girl using the momentum to do a controlled tumble out of the way. As soon as she was clear Sam took his shot, firing three rounds in quick succession.

He was barely aware of the girl sprinting for him, but her voice was sharp and piercing.

"Behind you!"

Blinding pain exploded in the back of his skull.

And his world was black.


	4. Chapter 3

Jodi drifted awake as if dragged in on an incoming tide, slow, groggy and cold. There was a throb in her temple and a numbness to her limbs and there was one wild moment where she wondered if she had somehow landed herself in Medbay. Her head rolled to the side, neck stiff and uncomfortable, leaving her wondering why they let her fall asleep sitting up.

A very human whimper and soft sobbing snapped her rudely into awareness, the sound driving her to move, to react. A pained gasp burst from her lungs as her sudden lurch forward strained her shoulders, forcing her to pause to take stock.

She was sitting up because someone had dragged her against a wall and pinned her arms up and over her head. Her wrists were wrapped snugly with something rough and scratchy, pinning her where she could rotate her hands and clasp her fingers together, but not much else. She was cold because she was sitting on a bare dirt floor and some asshole had taken her jacket, the loose material of her overshirt doing little to make up for its loss. Her back was pressed against a solid wall, the chill of the stone seeping like ice through her clothes. Her feet were free and a small roll of her ankle confirmed that her pocket knife was still stashed in her boot.

 _Okay_.

Jodi forced herself to breathe, deep, slow, and deliberate, to keep her growing panic at bay. She dropped her chin just to feel the bite of the chain still around her neck, the alloy tags clinking soflty with the motion.

' _Cade will come_ , she told herself with conviction, the tightness in her chest easing just a fraction.

She wasn't completely helpless, and Barricade would use the tracking device imbedded in her dog tags hunt her down, if he wasn't already.

That was something at least, but she would prefer not waiting around to be saved. That rarely worked out for the best.

"Oh god I don't want to die here, please-" the voice choked itself off with more sobs, reminding Jodi she wasn't alone.

The light was dim, but Jodi could see the the form of a woman trussed up just like Jodi, not even five feet away. Her knees were tucked up as high as they could go and her face was smothered against her shoulder, attempting to muffle her noise.

Jodi swallowed around the lump in her throat to whisper a soft, "Hey."

The woman flinched, whole body shaking, but her head lifted. Silvery streaks glinted in the dim light, and her eyes were watery.

The words 'are you okay' seemed a stupid thing to ask, so she didn't. "Where are we?"

"Doesn't even matter." She gave a sniffle, and Jodi pegged her as someone closer to Riley's age than her own. "It's too far for anyone to come. You can scream, and scream and no one hears."

That was so not comforting.

As her mind whirled to further analyze their situation, Jodi tested her bonds and grimaced when the rope held firm.

There was no telling how long she had been out, but it couldn't have been that long, given she still had full feeling in all her fingers. Maybe not even long enough for Barricade to realize she was missing, and she really, _really_ needed get out of here before that happened if that was the case. He wouldn't wait around for the Autobots to give him the go ahead and, probation or not, he wouldn't be concerned by any resulting collateral if push came to shove.

She needed to find a way out before that happened or they were back to square one.

There was a loud thump overhead and the woman next to buried her face back into her arm with a muffled wail. Across the room a shaft of light illuminated a dusty wooden stairwell, telling Jodi they were in some sort of basement. Or a cellar. A handful of bare light bulbs flickered on, bathing the room in sickly yellow light.

By the time there were actual steps on the stairs, the woman was reduced to straight up sobbing.

Jodi swallowed hard and clung to her courage, desperately ignoring that cold tendril of fear that was rising, normally buried deep her heart. She had conquered her fear before, pushing through conditioned reactions and her terror to survive in tight situations. She had faced Decepticons on two separate occasions with no training, and little to nothing by way of weapons. Granted, she barely survived by the skin of her teeth on both of those occasions, but she had _survived_.

A couple of homicidal humans weren't half as scary as Soundwave leveling a plasma cannon at her face.

She could handle this. She _could_.

She had to.

Deep breath in. Hold. Deep breath out.

Legs slowly came into view, stepping backwards and dragging the limp form of a body.

That tendril of fear gave a painful squeeze, the throb in her temple increasing as her pulse quickened.

Jodi forced herself to take in the details, to commit them to memory. She could hear Riley's voice in the back of her mind telling her to repeat what she saw to herself, to help the details stick. If, _when_ , she got free, she wanted this bastard to go down. She wanted to provide as much accurate info as she could.

The guy doing the dragging looked normal enough, if slightly unkempt. Brown hair, possibly dark blonde, the lighting made it hard to tell. It was cut short but a bit scruffy and there was stubble that clearly hadn't seen a razor in a couple of days. Prominent nose that had an arch to it that suggested a break at some point of his life. Shorter than Barricade's holoform, but easily taller than Riley. The heavy clothes were worn in places but of good quality. Dark jeans, thermal, heavy hunting jacket.

When he hit the landing the body was dropped unceremoniously on the floor and Jodi's heart leapt into her throat when the head rolled to the side, revealing a bloodied face.

It was Agent Townsend.

The man, their captor, swore under his breath before leaning to shout back up the stairwell. "Are you going to come help me with the big one or not?"

The woman next to her was now muttering to herself whenever she had the breath. All Jodi could hear was " _no no no no_ " and " _stay away, please no_ ".

A second figure shuffled down the stairs and for a long moment Jodi wondered if her implant was glitching.

Logically, she knew that the thing coming down into the basement could be human. There were two arms, two legs, hands, fingers and bare toes, and a face with all the basic features. There were articles all over the internet filled with people who were born with mutations and genetic defects. But with this, the way everything was put together was strewn with a deep sense of wrong. The limbs were elongated to the point of looking like soft clay that had been stretched a tad too far, the calves, and forearms disproportionate to the rest of the body. The face had that same sense of wrongness, the eyes too large and too luminous in the dim light, the rest of the features were both too sharp and too thin.

Jodi realized that this must have been what had attacked her back in the hotel room.

It _could_ have been human. It dressed like a human, it wore a baggy shirt and pants, but Jodi knew, down to her very foundations, that this thing wasn't _natural_.

It was a frightening thing when she realized that every Autobot she had ever met with a Holoform could pull off a more convincing human.

It, he, it looked male, scowled a bit at the man even as he began grabbing Agent Townsend's legs. "If you hadn't been greedy about grabbing a second donor, we wouldn't have to worry about him waking in the first place."

He huffed in response as he hooked his hands under the armpits, team lifting the massive amounts of deadweight. "This close to completing father's work, I didn't think we could afford to let anything pass us by. Excuse me for being thorough."

They carried Agent Townsend against the support beam closest to Jodi, one of them propping him up while the other secured his hands. If he struggled too much it would be easy for him to pop his shoulder right out of it's socket. At least she could tell he was actually breathing now that he was closer.

Handy work finished, the creature snatched a handful of floppy hair and lifted his face for inspection. Jodi's gut twisted as it sniffed him, as casual as a dog sniffing a tree. "This one smells sharp I'll give you that, but then again so did the first one. I don't know how helpful you expect him to be." He let the man's head flop back onto his chest.

"What about the girl?"

Two pairs of eyes turned to Jodi.

Her lungs stopped working, her whole body paralyzed under weight of their combined stare.

"Thought you drugged her."

"I did."

The creature scoffed as he stepped closer. "Obviously not nearly enough."

"I gave her the same dose as the big guy. I'm telling you she should still be out, unless she has some sort of freaky metabolism."

A low hum was his only response to that.

Long limbs brought him right into Jodi's space, and it was all she could do to shrink back against the wall, knowing there wasn't anywhere for her to actually hide. Her heart thundered behind her ribs, and her chest heaved, her lungs demmanding more air than she was giving it. She grit her teeth against a whimper as spindly fingers grabbed the dark mess of her ponytail and pulled, wrenching her head up and back, exposing her throat.

Don't panic, don't panic, _don't panic._

Air moved against her neck and she knew it was breathing in her scent.

That twisting sensation in her gut turned into a full nauseous roiling.

"She smells different than the others. Almost like ozone." Jodi tried to yank her head away as he traced the scar over her right eye, the pad of his fingers prodding the skin, in response the grip tightened, forcing her in place. He held her eyelid open wider. "And she's partially blind. No matter. Vision has no effect on the quality of the blood."

The other man clapped his hands together, dusting them off. "Well, now that we have the newbies settled, shall we go prep the workshop? We have a lot of work to do before we test the samples."

"Of course."

Jodi swallowed hard when she was released, the pounding of her heart deafening to her own ears. The woman next to her cried a little harder as her bonds were checked, but was otherwise left alone.

They left together, feet making the old wood of the stairs creak and groan under protest. There were a few more muffled thumps once they were out of sight and then nothing as they moved out of earshot.

The woman slowly quieted herself, once more reduced to silent tears.

Jodi wondered how long the poor woman had been down here, wondered how long they had kept the other two before they were dumped in the river, bloodless and carved up. Oh, god. Jodi prayed that she wouldn't meet the same fate when this was all said and done.

Of course then her mind drifted to Lia, and the condition Barricade and the Autobots had found her in, broken, bloody, and hysterical. Small miracle that she didn't remember anything.

But she had been _alive_.

Quite frankly, neither outcome was appealing.

Jodi really, _really_ needed to get out of here.

Several long minutes dragged by and Jodi was just getting her breathing back under control when a soft groan signaled Agent Townsend's return to consciousness.

"Welcome to the party."

Clearly still groggy, he blinked in her direction, then promptly screwed his eyes shut as he winced. "Oh god, what the hell did I get hit with?"

That startled a shaky laugh out of Jodi. "Nice to know I'm not the only one with a throbbing skull." She took one more slow breath to even out her voice further. "It was a brick, by the way. And then our hosts apparently drugged us with . . . something."

"Great. That would probably explain the nausea." He visibly swallowed before tentatively opening his eyes again. "Or I have a concussion. How many are there?"

"Just two. No, wait." Jodi twisted towards the woman, gaining her attention. "Hey, creepy guy mentioned something about their father. Have you actually seen the guy?"

Her eyes widened like a frightened deer, but she vehemently shook her head. Okay . . .

"We'll assume that it's just the two of them for now." He twisted a bit, testing his bonds like Jodi had not even thirty minutes ago. He sighed when they wouldn't budge before getting a good look at their roommate. His expression softened a bit, becoming reassuring. Jodi had seen Riley do the same thing with a traumatized victim on the rare occasion she had seen him and Prowl working. "I'm Sam. What's your name?"

Jodi noted the lack of the FBI title but said nothing.

"Renee." Her voice was as shaky as it had been earlier, weak and trembling, but she seemed a little more focused. "Renee Hawthorne."

"I'm going to get you out of here, Renee. Okay?"

Her attention flicked between the two of them, watery eyes clearly unconvinced. "One of the others said that too. Andrew. But they took him upstairs and never brought him back. We heard him screaming and screaming. And then he _stopped_. The others screamed when they were taken away too." Those eyes came to rest on Jodi, fully taking her in for the first time. "I didn't know they took children too."

Irritation flared, red hot, and Jodi clung to the embers to help drown out the remaining fear. "I'm _seventeen_."

Sam gave her an evaluating look but didn't comment about her age.

Renee's lips twitched in an almost-smile. "You sound like me at your age. And who are you?"

"Jodi."

"I'm sure you're parents are worried sick."

"Hard for them to do that when they're dead," Jodi ground out. Shit, she didn't mean to say that. Renee couldn't have known, and there was no point getting pissed off when she was just trying to be nice. Her head thunked back against the wall as she reigned in her temper. "Sorry. You didn't know. But I do have people looking for me, if they're not already."

"Are they the ones who taught you to fight?"

Jodi turned to Sam. "What?"

"At the motel. That wasn't basic self defense."

"Um, yeah." That's right. She had spotted him with gun in hand during her scuffle. She had never been so grateful for 'Cade and Prowl's sparring sessions as she had in that moment, her automatic response drilled into her by two teachers who were both bigger, faster and stronger than her. She remembered breaking free of a hold and darting out of the way to give him a clean line of fire. she remembered shots going off and then the memory got hazy. Wait . . . "You saw it right? What attacked me?"

"I did."

"What the fuck is it? I know you shot it, but it sure as hell ain't acting like it. Either you're a shitty shot or its immune to bullets."

"I don't know, I've never seen anything like it before." There's that evaluating look again. "You're awfully calm, all things considered."

Jodi didn't feel calm. Her head still throbbed, and her she felt about as mentally stable as a cracked vase, one good shove away from shattering. She snorted. "I told you I had a broad definition of strange. I take it this is just another day in the office for you."

He gave tilted his head from side to side, almost like a considering shrug. "Something like that."

"So whats the grand plan to get us out?"

"I'm working on it. Give me a minute."

_Well screw that._

Hoping she was flexible enough for what she had in mind, Jodi twisted her legs, scraping the outside of her right boot against the toe of the other. She repeted the motion over and over until she felt her pocket knife loosen from it's hiding spot.

Renee's eyes were huge. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get us the hell outta here," Jodi grunted, squirming around until her fingers found solid purchase on the ropes that bound her wrist together. She adjusted her grip and pulled up enough to get her left leg under her, weight balanced on the ball of her foot. Jodi took a long, deep breath kicked off and heaved, folding her body and lifting her leg up and over her head and tapping her boot against the wall until there was a shift against her ankle. She let go with one hand, palm up and spread her fingers wide.

She grinned when the familiar grip of her little folded knife dropped right into her waiting hand.

_Yes!_

Jodi plopped her but back down on the floor and gave a little laugh.

"What were you . . ." Renee's voice trailed off and ended with a fearful gasp when there was the soft _thump thump thump_ of approaching footsteps. "Oh god, no, no, no . . ."

Jodi's elation withered and died. Knowing she didn't have time to cut herself free, much less the others, she tried to hide the knife as best she could, tucking it in the hollow of her palm, and closing her fingers tightly over it.

Renee's eyes were wild when their captors came back, sending her scrambling back as much as she possibly could. Sam's face grew grim upon seeing Renee's mounting panic. He turned as much as he was able, trying to get a glimpse of them, there was worry there, but he was staying calm.

Jodi wondered how calm he would be if he saw the wicked looking dagger one of them was carrying.

"You mind testing the newbies while I prep the other one for harvest?"

The long-limbed _thing_ accepted the offered dagger, a sharp edged grin creeping across his face. "My pleasure."

Something curdled within her at the word "harvest".

The words sent Renee into a wild fit. She thrashed wildly, uncaring of the damage she was doing to already raw skin, screams of "no no, please don't do this, no" rising higher and higher in pitch as she kicked out as the man approached. He loosened her bonds enough to free her from the wall, dragging her towards the stair.

_Her face was on fire as she was dragged into the bathroom by her hair, Uncle David's eyes cold as he smothered her screams._

Jodi was frozen in dread and horror, memories of the past ratcheting up that horror to a whole new level.

Small bits of movement caught her attention, and Jodi tried to distract herself with it. Sam was shifting and twisting as much as he could, teeth clenched and eyes spitting fire, as if he could kill with a glance. It was far from the same, but that laser focused anger reminded her of Barricade, and the comparison did a little to calm her even as she ached for his presence.

Renee was dragged upstairs and out of sight, leaving them with her piercing screams and their less-than-human host.

Who was still grinning with too-sharp teeth, the polished steel glinting in his hand.

Long stringy legs carried him over to the wall to Jodi's left, where a shockingly clean shelf and work table lay tucked partly out of sight. There were brackets of vials neatly separated, full over here, and empty over there. Tools arranged and organized with a surgeons precision was oddly matched with the old and distressed leather journal lying next to them.

Spindly fingers plucked an empty vial from it's bracket. "Now let's see if you two will be of any actual use."

Sam twisted, trying to look, but the whole setup was behind him. "What is he going to do to her?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. Odds are you'll both meet the same end."He stepped up behind Sam, grabbing an arm. Sam winced as the knife was dragged across his skin, the vial quickly placed to collect some of the spilled blood. "Finding someone with potent blood is harder than it looks. But waste not, as father would say. Even you average Joe has some power to their blood. My brother and I are excellent student. We've learned to make do."

 _Breathe_ , Jodi told herself, _just breathe. In. Out._

_Don't panic, and don't let go of the knife._

_Breathe_.

"Brother?" Sam asked, voice a bit strained.

The vial was swiftly carried over to the work table, half the contents poured into a shallow basin before being corked and placed in an empty bracket. "Who better to carry on such fine work with me? You see, our Father is a genius, and I am one of his greatest creations." Bottles filled with unknown liquids and powders were pulled from the shelf, small measurements of their contents were added to the blood. The mixture was blended together with a metal stick and then left to sit.

Like this was some grotesque cooking show.

The knife was cleaned and another empty vial was fetched.

It was Jodi's turn.

_Don't panic, and don't let go of the knife._

Jodi felt her fingers shake as her whole body began to break out in fine tremors, fighting back terror new and old.

_Her arm was twisted until something popped, giving under pressure, making her cry out in pain._

_"Hold still and keep quiet. We don't want to bother the neighbors now, do we?"_

Footsteps and the glint of the freshly cleaned knife cut through the memory, reminding her to be more concerned of the living, equally terrifying, but far more pressing.

She worked to control her breathing and clutched the pocket knife tight, with Barricade's words floating up from her memory.

 _Don't sit there and cower like a frightened glitchmouse. Get_ angry.

Anger was good. Anger cut through the fear and let her act. Anger had kept her alive, despite a psychopathic uncle and ruthlessly violent aliens.

Jodi poured all the fury she could muster and leveled an icy glare right at the monster in front of her, making sure those overly large eyes met hers, willing him to see the truth in her next words, her voice hard and flat. "The last time a knife was pulled on me someone found their guts outside their body."

A head tilt and an unimpressed snort was her only response, and then her space was crowded, the left sleeve of her overshirt being yanked down past her elbow, exposing skin.

And he paused.

"Now, what is this?"

Ice lodged her throat.

He was looking at the burn scar on her arm, the energon burn she had gotten from repairing Barricade, one that was still pink and shiny after all this time. Her first energon burn, but not her only one.

The lanky form crowded close like he had earlier and took a sniff. He hummed. "Ozone. Electricity. But concentrated here. Now that _is_ interesting."

And then the knife was on her skin, creating a short shallow line that parallelled the scar.

She couldn't breathe.

Cold glass was pressed against her arm and then swiftly removed. She was vaguely aware of movement by the worktable, their captor no doubt giving her blood the same treatment as Sam's.

But _she couldn't breathe._

Panic swallowed her whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy smokes, this took forever! This was the chapter that wouldn't end! Then again Jodi insisted on fighting me (which is unusual, that's usually Barricade's job), so eventually I just went "fuck it" and went where she took me. The original layout I had planned had a Barricade segment as well, but then this would have been an easy 1200 words longer than it already is. Hope this was worth the wait! Stay tuned and as always Happy Reading! -Shadow


	5. Chapter 4

The supposed Agent Daltry mingled with the bar crowd with an ease that spoke of years of practice.

Barricade's Holoform had claimed a seat near the back corner, bottle of beer sitting untouched in front of him as he observed his target. Occasionally he would pretend to take a sip for the sake of blending in, but it wasn't like he could actually ingest anything in this form. The bottle was too dark for other patrons to be able to tell the difference.

He watched the human work the room, keeping a close visual tab while he was busy hacking into the nearest wifi, hoping he could dig up some useful information. He ran a broad search of the man's face, hoping they could get a better idea of who him and his partner actually were. But human faces could be so alike, so getting a true match would no doubt take time.

This roadtrip of theirs was little more than a short reprieve anyway. Barricade's thoughts drifted back to his recent mission, his first, where the Autobots actually came and asked their resident defector for help. They had tracked down the human woman to the Decepticons current base of operations, and had retrieved her while she was still alive, but he knew his old comrads had grabbed her for a reason and they were sure to try again.

Starscream was as stubborn as he was volitile, and Barricade doubted he would just let her slip from his grasp so easily.

It was one of the only reasons they were allowed this little foray unescorted. Consensus all agreed that the Decepticons would all have their eyes elsewhere, but that didn't mean that they couldn't take precautions, and that he was granted access to his primary weapons was proof of that. He was sure more that one Autobot was less than thrilled when that order came down the ladder. Unfortunately other rules of his probation were still in effect, absolutely no permanant damage was to be done to a human under any circumstance, and less than permanent damage was only deemed acceptable if his charge was in danger and there were no other options.

If he was to kill a human intentionally, under any circumstance, he would once more find himself locked up in the lowest levels of the Autobot base with no weapons and no liberties, and Jodi would be promptly relieved from his protection.

Permanantly.

Barricade refused to let that happen.

So if reporting in a couple of fake federal agents would help keep him in good graces with the Human-Autobot alliance, then so be it.

Though if he had anything to actually report remained to be seen.

So far the most sinister thing he had witnessed from Daltry was shameless flirting with the one female bartender, and a couple rounds of pool where he scammed a rather large bearded man out of a short stack of bills. It irritated Barricade that only one of the imposters was here, but he reasoned that since this one was in possession of the car, the other couldn't be too far.

He hoped he could wrap up this little surveillance trip soon, wanting nothing more than to retrieve Jodi and leave this town in his rearview mirror. It was getting difficult to keep his physical body still, having to constantly keep himself from shifting on his shocks. Having his Holoform activated helped by giving him a bit of an outlet, but it was minimal at best.

Over the last thirty minutes he had developed a small itch in the far back of his processor. At first it had been small and easily ignored, but it remained insistant, growing by a fraction with every passing minute until it was impossible to tune out. It made him restless and irritable in a way he hadn't been since before his repairs, reminding him closely of those rare surges of instinct that sometimes happened in the middle of battle, the ones that urged you to move, or warned of danger that nanosecond before your sensors read anything.

It was similar to that, but not, and the unfamilar sensation was driving him insane.

A welcome distraction came when he got a single hit from his search, and he quickly pulled the article up on his HUD.

It was a fairly recent news article from St. Louis regarding a string of murdered women, and how the prime suspect was was found dead in the home of the one woman who had escaped him. Near the bottom was a mugshot of Barricade's false agent, listing him as the deceased murderer as well as a name.

Dean Winchester.

Who apparently had a pretty hefty rap sheet even before graduating to murderer.

Well, that was more than enough for Barricade.

Abruptly he rose from his seat, weaving through the small bar crowd and into the dingy little restroom, letting his Holoform dissolve as soon as he knew he was alone.

Barricade took a full scan of Dean Winchester's big black car for easy tracking later before peeling out of the parking lot, tires squealing.

As soon as he was back on the main road he paged Jodi's comm to update her of the situation and to tell her to start packing up.

There was no answer.

That driving itch in the back of his processor slammed back into the forefront, now flavored with a hint of fear and a hefty dose of stress.

He pushed it back viciously, wondering if he should pay Ratchet a visit upon their return. This was far from normal, even if it didn't exactly feel wrong, and he was worried something was glitching in his systems.

Jodi was fine. Odds are, despite the order of keeping her comm unit close, if the girl decided to take a shower she most likely set the it by the sink. There was a good chance she didn't even hear it. Aggravating as it was, it was well within the realms of Jodi's normal behavior.

As often as Barricade and Prowl agreed that Jodi was far from battle ready, by their standards, she had shown herself capable time and again. The girl was scrappy and resourceful. Impulsive under pressure, but her instincts were usually sound, and her reaction time had even impressed that lanky fight choreographer.

Jodi was _fine_.

All that conviction died as he rolled into the motel parking lot to find the door to their room ajar, the interior dark and all too quiet.

His spark froze in it's casing.

He stifled to urge to transform then and there to tear the place apart, leaving him to bury his fear with rage of the likes he hadn't felt since his first (and only) meeting with David Hunter. If he found Jodi injured, or _worse_ , Primus help whoever was responsible.

His mind went back to his little surveillance mission, and was reminded that Winchester's partner was suspitiously absent.

As soon as he reeled in his temper enough to think properly he reactivated his Holoform and made a show of approaching the open door, even as his sensors swept the vicinity for signs of life. The results weren't comforting.

"Jodi?" he called, but there was no answer. His avatar was so intune with his physical body that his limbs began shaking, but from rage or fear, it was hard to tell. The room was pitch black, not even the bathroom light was left on, which in itself was odd. Riley was always complaining about her leaving the light on. He found Jodi's comm where it lay forgotten on the nightstand, the little screen displaying one missed call, a small photo of his Holoform next to the blinking message. He picked it up, expression blank.

It didn't take long for Barricade to determine that the room was empty.

With monumental effort he forced himself to focus.

Smothering the steadily growing fear, he accessed the program that worked with most cybertronian-based trackers, and accessed Jodi's specifically. His vents cycled in a deep sigh of relief as the tracker was still listed as online, the program showing a steady (if rapid) heartbeat. Ratchet had customized Jodi's tracker to work in tandem with the implants embedded in the girl's spine. If the girl was to flatline, or be further than fifty meters from the tracker itself the signal would be flagged and an alert would be sent directly to Ratchet, and he suspected Prowl as well.

Needless to say, he was thankful that not only was his charge alive, but he also didn't have a posse of Autobots gearing up to charge in for the rescue. He would rather handle this his way than having some straight-laced slagger dictating that he follow some golden moral code. Especially with Jodi missing.

He would be more reassured if the GPS on the damn tracker was working properly. The signal was getting some sort of interfearance, and so wasn't pinpointing her location. But it was placing her somewhere within a ten mile radius. Wherever she was, it couldn't be too far.

Then again, with how dense the surrounding woods were "not too far" could be a drastic understatement.

Keeping the steady rythym of Jodi's pulse as background noise, he turned his attention back to the entry way, frowning when spotted a small hole in the door. It was then he settled in full investigation mode, using deep scans and carefuly examined visual to search for clues. It was hard to take in each new bit of information without his circuits sizzling.

The hole was from a small caliber firearm, the bullet had pierced through the cheap wood of the door to lodge itself deep within the wall. There was an unopened bag of chips in the middle of the room that clearly hadn't been there when he left, the snack had been either tossed or dropped. A lower section of the doorframe was freshly scraped and chipped, suggesting a struggle. There was a few drops of blood on the carpet and another crimson smudge on the pavement a bit down the walkway. Near the smudge were three empty 9 mm shell casings and a small crumpled set of papers stapled together. Each page was a different news article of the missing humans, random parts highlighted in yellow.

He was beginning to get a vauge picture of what happened, even if he couldn't properly put the puzzle pieces together. There had been an ambush of some sort as Jodi had entered the room, and Primus, why couldn't that girl stay put for once in her life? At least two others had been present, whoever had grabbed her and whoever had the gun. Three shots fired, two of which had found their target.

For the first time, Barricade wished for more sensitive sensors when it came to biological matter. All he was able to discern from the blood was that it was fairly recent and human on both accounts, but he couldn't say if any of it belonged to Jodi.

The blood better not have come from Jodi. He had seen enough of it to last him the rest of his existance.

_Jodi's back was laid open in three diagonal lines, displaying layers of muscle and tissue. Sand had packed deep into the wounds, and Barricade could see something white under the sea of red. Blood was everywhere._

He shook himself forcibly from the memory, concentrating on the constant rythym of Jodi's heartbeat, still relaying to him through the tracking system. The tempo had changed, speeding up and accelerating even as he took notice.

That nagging itch became a burn, then an inferno, suddenly invasive and consuming. Cold terror followed on it's heels, overriding any and all rational thought, and then a sharp pain lanced across the width of his arm, the sensation echoed in triplicate in his holoform. The sheer force of it nearly sent his hologhraphic emitter on the fritz, his avatar flickering with static as it fought to stablize. Jodi's comm unit clattered when it fell, tumbling right through him to skitter across the ground, the stapled stack of papers fluttering after it.

Scrap talking to Ratchet, Barricade already knew what this was. The cold terror and the pain, though intense and sharp, were obviously not his own. Barricade had delt with this constantly as a youngling, and then less when he got older and he and Prowl got more proficient at minimizing the sensations they would broadcast to the other. The more intense the emotion, the more difficult it was to keep under wraps.

He knew what this was, just as surely as he didn't know _how the slag_ he was feeling it.

Because the link it should have been coming though had been long broken, brutaly severed the day Barricade put a knife in his twin's back. He had personally made sure the edges of that link were so frayed that it would be impossible to ever truly reconnect at that level. His and Prowl's relationship was on the mend, but they would never recover what they lost.

But this wasn't Prowl.

This was new, and impossible, but there was no doubt as to who was on the other end of the connection. There was no one else in the universe he lowered his guard to.

His processor was still reeling from his realization and all it's vast implications when there was a slam of a car door and the sharp clack of a human firearm being primed. The voice that followed was low and dangerous and full of it's own barely contained fury. "Where the fuck is my brother you son of a bitch?"

 

 

Sammy may have been the one who managed a full ride to Stanford, but Dean was far from stupid. Plus he was more observant than he was given credit for. By the time he ordered his second round from the busty brunette behind the bar he realized he was being watched.

It wasn't obvious, but once he had that tell-tale prickle run up the back of his neck, he subtly scouted the room to see what had his instincts on edge. It didn't take him long to pick out the guy sitting near the back of the bar, posture a tad too predatory to pull off the pretense of being a regular that was minding his own business, drinking a beer. Plus, even though he wasn't openly staring, his focus was almost exclusively on Dean.

He played it cool, going about his usual bar routine even as he sized up his new-found stalker, just in case the guy was looking for a fight. It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to jump him. It was always fun when he proved he wasn't easy pickings.

The man was tall, probably Dean's height, or close to it, his build broad and solid. Realizing he looked familiar, Dean suddenly remembered seeing the guy when he and Sammy were getting dinner. Him and some kid leaving the diner together, piling into the shiny new mustang that had been parked next to his baby. He had watched the girl like a hawk even as Sam yakked his ear off, making sure she didn't scratch his car with the door as they left.

During his game of pool he learned that the the man wasn't local. His opponent had lived in the area all his life and had never seen him before. If he was to be believed, the most recent addition this town had seen (besides the few kids born out here) were some crazy recluse and his son some twenty years ago.

Dean debated calling Sam, but opted to wait and see how the evening panned out. No point in making a big deal out it until there was something to worry about.

It wasn't too terribly long after his pool game when his stalker abruptly stiffened and then launched himself from his seat to book it to the bathroom. Dean waited about a minute before trailing him at a sedate pace, subtly checking for his knife and his sidearm before pushing the swinging door open.

And blinked in confusion at the empty room. The stalls were all open and clearly vacant and there was no window.

Tires squealed outside, signaling that someone was leaving in a hurry.

Son of a bitch, Sam might be right about there being a hunt here after all.

Dean bolted to the parking lot just in time to see the mustang dissappear around the bend.

Distantly, Dean was thankful he was still in the fed monkey suit, because in the next breath he was at his car, pulling out his sawed off from the trunk and throwing it in the passenger seat. As soon as the impala's engine roared to life he hit the road, giving chase. Small as the town was, the mustang had to pass by the motel in the direction his quarry dissappeared to.

He speed-dialed Sam on the first straightaway, fingers drumming impatiently on the steering wheel as it rang. "C'mon Sammy . . . "

It went to voicemail.

" _Shit_!" He tossed the phone next to him and put his foot to the floorboard.

The motel had been completely empty when they had checked in just a few days ago, the run down building recieving business due to lack of options more than anything else. Now there was a single car sitting in the lot, idling several doors down from their room, which looked as dark and vacant as the rest of the building. Dean quickly killed the lights on his baby as slowly rolled into the lot. In front of the familiar mustang was his stalker from the bar, back to him as he flipped through a packet of papers.

And then the image flickered, distorted and staticy, and staggered like he had been struck by a two by four. The papers and whatever else he had been holding fell to the pavement.

Seeing red, Dean snatched up his sawed off, pleased that it was already loaded with rock salt rounds. He had no problems blasting Casper in the face.

The door slammed behind him, the rough slide of the shotgun satisfying as he cocked it and took aim at tall dark and deceased. "Where the fuck is my brother you son of a bitch?"

He turned, posture back to that predator intesity from the bar as he considered Dean with bright crimson irises. Dean's never encountered a red-eyed ghost before, and quickly ran through other monsters that fit the bill without possesion, and drew a blank.

"Brother . . ." The chuckle was dark and sarcastic and almost to himself. "The other one was the brother. I should have known." Those bright eyes flicked towards his gun and then away dismissively. "Put your toy down fleshbag, it won't kill me."

"No? Doesn't mean it won't hurt," Dean bit back and pulled the trigger.

Dean's premature grin faltered instantly. Instead of dispersing like a proper ghost filled with a full shell's worth of rock salt, it did nothing. Not a flinch, a twitch, nothing! Whatever he was, he picked up a particle of salt that clung to his jacket and eyed it curiously before grinding it between his fingers, leting the resulting powder drift away. "Salt? I have no time for you or your brother, human." Those burning eyes turned back to him, irritation clearly growing. "Now. _Out of my way_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good going Dean, shoot first and ask questions later. Considering that I decided to throw these two hot-heads into the fire together, this chapter gave me very little trouble. Here's hoping the next chapter is just as easy.
> 
> ALSO! Have questions regarding the story or Wayward Ones as a whole? Feel free to PM me here or hit me up on Tumblr (sharysisnhmoonshadow). Happy reading everyone!


	6. Chapter 5

Jodi had quickly spiraled into a panic and couldn't bring herself back. She gasped for air, trying to reel in her emotions while doing her best to ignore the sting of her fresh cut. It didn't help that she could feel the blood slowly oozing down her arm. She still couldn't see and she couldn't hear anything over the roar of her thundering heartbeat and it only worked to fuel her panic.

_It's not that bad_ , she told herself. _C'mon, it's not that bad, you've had worse, you've survived worse._

At some point the lights had been completely turned off and they had been abandoned in the black abyss that was the cellar.

"Jodi?" Sam's voice pierced through the void, clearly concerned and giving her a point of focus. "Jodi, talk to me, I can't see a damn thing. Come on, you got to talk to me to let me know you're alright."

Can't see.

_Can't see._

Jodi's mind snapped back into sharp focus and immediately she tried to get her breathing under control enough to speak clearly. "Optic override: Jodi Hunter. Passcode: delta, echo, seven, four, two."

_PASSCODE ACCEPTED. VOCAL COMMAND SYSTEM ONLINE_ scrolled across her vision in bright green text even as Sam gave a startled "what?".

"Engage night vision."

_NIGHT VISION ENGAGED._

In an instant the black illuminated, painting the world in monochromatic green. It was bizzare and slightly dissorienting, but she could see Sam still tied to his support beam, expression caught between worried and cautious, but it did wonders to calm her. She could handle this.

She twitched her fingers and was grateful to find she was still clutching her little folded pocket knife. With a practiced flick, the blade was out and Jodi carefully went to work on the ropes binding her wrists together.

"Jodi . . ?"

Realizing she hadn't actually answered him she shifted her attention to Sam as she continued to saw away. "I'm okay. Sorry for freaking out, but if you give me a minute I can cut you free. How long was I out of it?"

"Only about five minutes." His expression hardened into straight suspicion. "What was that just now?"

"That's classified." Jodi had always wanted to say that line, and she couldn't help the little smirk that crept onto her face. The bitchy face he gave her in response was well worth it.

"As a Federal Agent-"

"And I'm gonna stop you right there. Let's just cut the crap, okay? I already know you're not a Fed, so don't even try pulling rank." She sighed as her bonds finally gave, allowing her to drop her arms to rub at her raw wrists. She grimaced when she smeared blood, her whole arm tacky with it. "I _also_ know that you're not one of the bad guys, and I take it your partner isn't either."

Jodi carefully got to her feet, wary of making too much noise and half-numb limbs. When she was sure she was steady, she scurried over to Sam to get to work on freeing him too. He jerked hard when her fingers touched his forearm. "Chill out, it's just me. You need to keep still or I'm gonna cut you on accident."

She couldn't see Sam's face from here, but his fists clenched as he held himself still. "How can you see what you're doing in the first place?"

"Give me a real name and I'll give you the abbrieviated version." And extremely edited, but he didn't need to know that.

"Sam Winchester. My partner is my big brother, Dean."

Well, crap.

"I have an experimental implant in my blind eye, over the iris," Jodi said shortly as her mind worked overtime when she realized Barricade was probably trailing Dean. She swiftly attacked the ropes, having a much easier time of it now that she could see what she was doing. "And we need to get back before 'Cade beats the crap outta your brother under false pretenses." When the last of the rope fell away she flicked her blade closed and helped steady Sam as he rose. She hoped that he was steady enough to keep his feet on his own. There was no way whe would be able to drag him out if he went down.

"Dean can hold his own."

"Dean could be fucking Rambo and still not have a snowball's chance in hell." She grabbed his sleeve and tugged. "Come on. Let's see if I can find us something to wrap our arms with. We're still bleeding."

She led them to the work table and promptly began to rummage for something to use as bandages. Finding squat, she improvised. She removed her overshirt and cut one of the sleeves into long strips. She wrapped her own arm first with practiced ease, and then shoved at the sleeve of Sam's shirt to tend to his cut. She supposed that his jacket had been confiscated at the same time hers had.

"You don't know my brother." Sam's jaw twitched when she tugged a bit too hard before tying it off. "I don't suppose you see my gun with that super vision of yours."

"I'm not an X-man. It's tech, not a superpower." Jodi muttered, and then started to recheck the shelves, being a bit more thorough this time. When the bottom shelf yielded a few scraps of stiff wire, she pocketed it and moved to the next one. "I'll look around, but I don't think they would be that stupid."

"Then look for anything else that's useful. You are a hunter, aren't you? You and your friend?"

She froze for a beat, caught in a momentary panic, but then it dawned on her that he might mave meant "hunter" as a lable and not a surname. She finished scouring the shelves and moved back to the work-bench, leafing through the papers and trying not to look too closely at the two bowls still smeared with their blood. "What makes you say that?" she asked cautiously, fishing, and hoping Sam would give her something more to go on.

"Your calm under fire for one. It's never happened to us before, but it wouldn't be _that_ shocking to find another set of hunters on the same case. Especially after photos of the first body were leaked to the public. I told Dean that the carvings were distinct enough to point to a case."

Okay. _Clearly_ the two of them were on very separate pages. Possible a whole different books.

"Okay, apparently you're confused." She put the papers down and moved to a second set shelves a little past the workbench. "We didn't even know about the murders until we stopped for dinner at the diner. Whatever you're definition of 'hunter' is, we're not it."

Sam looked like he wanted to argue the point, but the two of them froze when the screaming started, muffled through walls and at least one set of floorboards. The voice was distinctly female. Jodi felt like someone poured a pitcher of ice water over her.

"Oh god. That's Renee, isn't it? What are we gonna do?"

"We can't do anything for her right now."

"You promised her you would get her out of here!" she hissed back.

Sam groped in the dark for the back of Jodi's shirt, as if he was worried she was going to charging off without him. "We need weapons and a plan. If we go up there half-cocked and unarmed we're no help to anyone."

It was a very Prowl thing to say, and it set her focus back to the task at hand. She ground her teeth and asked, "Besides weapons, what am I looking for?"

"Anything that might give us information on what we're actually dealing with. Normal bullets had no effect, so anything that might tell us how to kill it."

What Jodi wouldn't give for Riley's shiny new plasma rifle right now. That would do the trick. If it didn't then they had much bigger problems.

No firearms, but Jodi did manage to find a ceremonial-looking dagger that she had a sneaking suspition had been used on the two of them. She quickly handed that off to Sam and continued her search, trying to ignore the muffled screaming, as well as the twisting mass in her gut it was giving her.

There was a book lying by itself, bound in worn leather and a piece of dark cloth tucked between the pages. Curious, Jodi opened it to the marked page, noting that today's date was scribbled at the top. "I think I found something."

"What is it?"

"Some sort of journal." She flipped back to the first page, and then leafed briefly through random entries. "A lot of crazy crap mixed with some sketches. Weird symbols. Pretty sure the creep was writing in this after taking our blood."

"Grab it."

Jodi handed that off as well. It was too thick for her to carry easily and she was still acting as their eyes. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to hinder her too much.

After that it didn't take long to realize that there was nothing else that she considered useful, and began to walk the perimiter of the room looking for another way out. There was no telling how long their kidnappers would be occupied with Renee, and they had wasted a lot of time as it is. Sam kept a light hand on the back of her shirt as she moved, letting her lead him around like a two-legged service dog. And to top it all off, an ache was starting to develop behind her eyes, telling her she couldn't use this mode of vision for much longer without risking a full blown migraine.

They found a door tucked under the shadow of the stairwell. The wood was decaying, but thick and sturdy, with an old padlock holding it closed.

Renee's screams hit a new pitch and fell silent, a muffled thud following not long after.

"We're out of time," Sam hissed. "Move and I'll try to break the door."

Jodi swatted at him in the same way she swatted at Riley when he was being stupid, and hissed back. "If you do that then they really will know we're loose. Lemme see if I can pick the lock brfore you start breaking shit." She pulled the folded wire from her pocket and set to work, praying the internals weren't rusted together.

"Your friend teach you that too?"

A wide smile and a wry, breathless laugh escaped her. "He did actually." The lock gave with a sharp click and the door swung open on surprisingly quiet hinges. A long empty tunnel lay before them, although Jodi was the only one who saw it. "Now, what say we get the fuck outta here?"

"Lead on."

Only pausing long enough to swing the door shut behind them, Jodi led them through the tunnel and hopefully to freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short, I know, but the next one is gonna be long, I can feel it. Thank you to all my readers! Wether you actively review, leave kudos, or just lurk, I'm glad you've stopped by! I write for myself, but it's always a good feeling when others are enjoying the story too! Until next time, Happy Reading! - Shadow


	7. Chapter 6

 

Dean stood there, frozen with indicision, wondering if he had anything in his arsenal that would be effective against- well, whatever the hell he just shot at. His heart hammered and his thoughts raced, and every instinct he had was screaming at him to do something.

As it was, he didn't get a chance to make up his mind.

From one blink to the next the guy had him by the lapels and then he was soaring through the air. He hit the roof of the impala shoulder first, rolling ass-over-teakettle across its surface and landing breathless on the asphalt on the other side. Dean groaned, rolling over and clutching at his aching ribs. Hopefully nothing cracked, but experience told him that he would be sporting bone-deep bruising by tomorrow.

Tires squealed as the mustang sped past, nothing but a streak of black on black since all of the car's lights were off. Still gasping for air, Dean stumbled to his feet and scrambled into the cab to give chase.

Dean knew he was a good driver, a _damn_ good driver, and he put a lot of pride into the upkeep of his Baby. But even with her in tip-top shape, there was no keeping up with the much newer mustang. The thing hugged corners like the tires had cleats, the winding mountain road doing nothing to slow the bastard down, and it wasn't long before the mustang had completely outstripped Dean.

Which is why he was so shocked when he rounded the bend only to swerve wide to avoid a head-on collision. Dean swore as the impala fishtailed. He got her back under control and had her spun around and heading after their prey once more.

The mustang had slowed somewhat, not a lot, but enough to let Dean tail it properly. Good thing, that, since it made a sharp left and dissappeared into the treeline. He would have rolled right on by the tiny side road, and never known that it was there. The one lane road was paved but overgrown and poorly kept, riddled with rocks and pot holes.

Thankfully it was only about a hundred yards down when he found the monster car again.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Dean mumbled, watching the car roll off road and into the brush. Dean winced, knowing what kind of damage that could do to the undercarraige.

There was a beat of comlplete stillness, and then the mustang seemed to fall apart and unfold, and fucking walked into the woods.

Dean stared, jaw agape, then scrubbed his eyes.

The car walked away. The damn car stood up and _walked away_!

Oh shit. Okay. Walking cars are now a thing. Why the fuck were walking cars a thing?

This officially made Top Ten on his weird-shit-o-meter.

After several long moments of absorbing what he just saw, he pulled over and put Baby in park, and popped the trunk. Once he had the false bottom propped open, he stared at the arsenal spread out before him, for once completely at a loss.

What the hell did you grab to stop a walking car?

 

oOoOo

 

The dark little tunnel spit them out some fifty, sixty yards from an old one story hunting cabin. A single light could be seen in one of the windows, but niether of them could see anything. Not that they hung around for long. The pair had beat a hasty retreat into the forest and prayed they were going towards the highway, or at least somewhere that they could be more easily found.

Jodi was still banking on Barricade locating them through her tracking device, but Sam didn't know that.

She hoped they would be found soon, neither of them had jackets and the night air was frigid, her breath bursting out in a cloud of mist with every sharp exhale. They ran, through brush and over fallen logs, and tried not to break pace. Sam was clearly still being effected by whatever they had been drugged with. He would sometimes sway, feet suddenly unsteady, but all he did was grit his teeth and march on, stubbornly ignoring how quickly he was getting winded. Jodi stayed firmly at his side, still acting as their eyes and urging Sam on when he slowed. It was a small mercy that she seemed uneffected herself, and she hoped that Sam would shake it off soon.

Jodi wished that she was as indifferent to pain as her body seemed to be to the drugs.

Her arm still stung under it's makeshift bandage, and her muscles burned from the cold and the continuous use. Every bruise she gained from her scrap before they were taken were making themselves known, and her skull was throbbing with her migrain and the continuous use of her implant, but she didn't dare disengage her night vision. With it she was ably to navigate the rough terrain and help Sam avoid anything that would make him trip or stumble. If Sam went down there was no way in hell she would be able to drag him out of here.

 _Just a little further_ , she told herself. _Just until 'Cade finds us. You've had worse, just keep moving._

And of course it was then, in the wake of that thought, when her luck ran out. With a burst of static and a flare of green, her vision was flooded in white, blinding her.

Jodi slid to a halt, one hand gripping Sam's shirt to reassure herself that he was still there. Her voice was breathless, but clear when gave another verbal overide. "Disengage night vision."

Instead of confirming the comand before returning to normal, there was one last crack of static before the vision in her right eye shut off completely, leaving her good eye to adjust to the darkness alone.

"Oh shit."

"What happened?"

"My implant just copped out on me!" she hissed, rubbing her face as if it could magically fix everything. "I need a minute to adjust."

"We don't have a minute. We should keep-"

Jodi suddenly found herself shoved behind Sam's much larger frame, crowding her close as if he was shielding her. The protective gesture jarred her, stirring up memories of her parent's doing the same thing when she was much smaller.

There was a deep chuckle then, rough and unfamiliar, and a chill settled into her limbs that had nothing to do with the cold. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and it felt like frost had settled directly in her lungs. "It's rude to leave a party without telling your host. Did your parents never teach you two manners?"

Jodi peered around Sam with her good eye. Her vision was still shot, still adjusting to the night, but she could see the outline on a man, clearly older than the two they had dealt with earlier.

She thought she could see the trees trough him, but that was probably due to her shitty sight.

God she hoped it was because her shitty sight.

The man moved, stepping towards them and Sam moved with him, keeping the distance. "Yeah, well, your party sucked."

"My sons will be so disappointed to hear that."

The man flung a hand out, and with a gesture Jodi and Sam were flung in two different directions. Jodi gasped as she hit the forest floor, something sharp biting just below her shoulder blade.

Sam shouted from somewhere to her left. "Jodi, run!"

Not needing no other encouragement, she rolled over and launched herself to her feet and right into a sprint.

She barely made it twenty yards when something launched out of the shadows and tackled her back to the ground. Long spindly limbs grappled with her, trying to wrench her arms behind her back. Jodi twisted, trying desperately to get leverage and to beat back her fear with her lingering anger. "Get the hell off of me!"

There was a low grumble in the distance, less like thunder and more like the deep vibrating growl of an engine. It was echoed by a second growl, much closer and more familiar.

Sharp nails scraped along her back as the weight was forcibly dragged off of her. There was a wet snap followed by an inhuman screech, and then hands, warm and buzzing with static, lifting and tugging her to her feet.

Relief flooded through her as she clung to the arm that wrapped around her as soon as she was vertical. Her whole body settled, the tension easing despite the circumstance. "Oh, thank god," she breathed, and couldnt help the sarcastic comment that followed. "Get lost on the way here?"

"Complain later. Maybe after the rest of me gets here."

Assured she was relatively unharmed, he returned his focus to Jodi's attacker, his whole posture screaming pissed-off-predator. She gave him room but stayed close, waiting.

The same thing that had captured Jodi and stole her blood was facing off against him, slightly crouched and teeth bared, as if preparing to lunge. One arm hung limp and wrong at it's side, with something dark dripping from the end of it's fingers. Given the extra angle the limb seemed to have, Jodi knew bone must have broken skin.

Good. If it could bleed then it could die.

Barricade's fists kept clenching then loosening, as if he itched to move, but was holding himself back. Jodi didn't understand _why_ , Cade could be more impulsive than her when his temper flared. Since the fucker had been clearly attacking her, Jodi had expected him to be raining fire and brimstone on this bastard, especially since it wasn't-

_Oh, son of a bitch. No, that can't be it._

"'Cade, please tell me that thing isn't human."

"If it wasn't do you really believe it would still be living?" he snarled, clearly frustrated and waring with himself.

Shit.

The thing stared at Barricade, nostrils flaring, then hissed. "Ozone. What sort of creature are you, Red Eyes? Are you what taints the girl's blood?"

"Blood." A crimson stare flicked over to Jodi and zeroed in on her arm, making her do the same, taking note of the makeshift bandage peeking out from under her sleeve. It must have come loose after being thrown, or the scuffle right after. Regardless of either, the material was still wet with fresh blood.

A sinking feeling slid through Jodi, settling hard and heavy in the pit of her stomach.

She saw the instant Barricade decided to ignore the conditions of his parole, concequences or no.

Apparently the thing could too, because it stepped back and screamed, loud and shrill. "James!"

A booming crack of thunder that erupted to their left, stopping Barricade in his tracks. Jodi jumped, hands itching to check herself for bullet wounds even as she stepped closer to her guardian. Barricade cast a furious glare at it's source.

A familiar man stepped from the trees, rifle in hand, eyes still staring down the sights. "Next round goes through your skull if you take one more step towards him!"

"I'm done with you humans and your guns." Barricade picked at the arm of his jacket, examining a hole that wasn't actually there. "You know, that's the second time I've been shot today. Still less than impressed."

Keeping himself firmly between Jodi and the rifle, Barricade shot forward. Another crack of thunder and the barrel of the gun was in his hands. The stock smashed into a jaw, body dropping as the rifle was snapped in two and cast aside, no more than a broken toy.

The feeling of frost in her throat and lungs was Jodi's only warning before the old man materialized behind Barricade's Holoform. "Don't touch my sons!" he roared, a hand touching and then pushing _through_.

A harsh ripple of static and the Holoform was gone. Somewhere further into the woods was a screech of metal and splintering wood, and a small tremor shook the ground under their feet.

The terror was back and dialed up to eleven.

_That was Barricade. Oh my god, that was 'Cade! Shit, shit, shit!_

Barricade was down and it didn't actually touch him. Not the real him, anyway, and that was frightening in a whole new horrifying way. Jodi knew very well what it took to bring down a Cybertronian of Barricade's size.

Jodi wanted nothing more than to tear through the woods and run to his side, to make sure he was okay, but she didn't dare turn her back on the three figures before her. On the enemy. The one who got a rifle stock to the face was climbing to his feet, wobbly and bloody, but clearly still alive.

"Get down!"

Over a year's worth of drills had Jodi dropping to the forest floor. Two shots fired, and the old man dispersed in light and mist, the other two recoiling back. Eyes wide and heart hammering, Jodi was frozen in place.

A tall man in a rumpled suit took up guard position in front of her, silver pistol gleaming in the dark. After making sure the other two weren't an active threat, he called back over his shoulder. "Move your ass, Sam!"

Jodi recognized him from the diner, though the memory seemed like it was forever ago. This had to be Dean. Sam's brother.

"I _know_. Jodi, come on." Sam was suddenly at her side, worse for wear, but there, and alive, and-

' _Cade. I need to find 'Cade, he needs to be okay. He-_

"Jodi, we need to go!"

Yet again she was hauled to her feet, but the hands were wrong. They were warm, but they were shaky and didn't have the comforting undercurrent of static.

Jodi barely took in Dean threatening their captors as he covered their stumbling retreat. Sam was still a bit off kilter, but focused as he tugged her along, keeping her moving just as she had for him not too long ago. Not even two minutes into their walk, Jodi's optic implant flared back to life as if it hadn't been down at all, night vision active and a tiny icon blinking in the peripheral telling her that vocal command system was still in effect. She rubbed her eye irritably as she had to adjust her vision yet again.

The threat seemed gone for the moment, and the three of them trudged on. Dean remained armed and was the most vocal of the three of them.

"Dude, you guys are lucky I grabbed iron rounds. You wouldn't _believe_ the shit I've seen tonight! Next time _I_ get to look for a case, alright?" Dean griped, rolling his shoulder as if warding off soreness.

Sam snorted. "Cry me a river. _You_ were the one insisting there was no case."

"Yeah, and it totally came back to bite me in the ass. Frickin' red-eyes ghosts that aren't ghosts, you disappear into the wind, creepy string-bean monster back there. And don't even get me started on the damn walking car I followed here."

"Now you're just messing with me."

' _Cade_!

Jodi turned her head and stared into the woods, towards where she heard Barricade went down, worry tugging her. She scanned the trees until her eyes landed on the still outline of something that clearly didn't belong. It was large and hard edged, and Jodi knew in her gut it was him.

Without a word, she wrenched herself away from Sam and bolted.

She heard Sam and Dean respecttively shout and curse behind her and give chase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was my personal birthday goal yesterday to finish this chapter. For once I finished by a deadline! Woohoo!
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed the action-packed chapter, and as always comments questions are always welcome! You can PM me here, or you can pester me on my Tumblr : sharysisnhmoonshadow. Have a happy holiday season everyone! -Shadow


	8. Chapter 7

 

Sam cursed whatever techno gadget Jodi had that let her see in the dark. The girl was quick and nimble to begin with, and since she was able to navigate better than either of them at the moment, she quickly pulled ahead. If it wasn't for the occasional bright flashes of a pale undershirt they would have lost her in the night as soon as she ran off.

They chased Jodi to a small clearing in the woods where Dean slid to a sudden stop. Sam crashed bodily into his brother, Dean's hands instantly clutching at his jacket to keep him upright. He brushed off Dean's hands and was about to ask why they stopped when Sam caught a glimmer of moonlight reflecting off something metallic that clearly didn't belong in the woods. His eyes tracked in the dark, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

And then he stared.

The Winchesters had a long history with things that went bump in the night. Sam and Dean had been close and personal with ghosts, shapeshifters and all sorts of monsters from strange, to the grotesque. Mythology and lore had been drilled into them from a young age, and were taught to use weapons as soon as they were big enough not to fall over when using them.

All of that knowledge, all those years of lessons and research, were suddenly useless.

Because Sam had no clue what he was looking at.

In the clearing, a couple of trees had been toppeled and crushed under the sheer weight of the still figure sprawled atop of them. It was large and humanoid, with arms and legs, and covered top to bottom in sharp edges. The distinct nose of a new Ford mustang made up the bulk of the chest, and Sam was pretty sure those were tires where the wrists should be.

Holy shit.

And there was Jodi, scampering and climbing across the damn thing like it was her personal jungle gym until she was standing on one of it's arms. She grabbed at the plains of it's face and started yelling, all that composure and relative calm she'd shown in the face of their kidnapping long gone. Her voice was near hysteric and sounded on the verge of tears. "'Cade! 'Cade, you need to wake up. You're not allowed to do this to me, you hear me?" A small bang as she slammed on something with her fist. "Barricade!"

Two glowing red lights snapped on, immediately followed by it's whole torso lurching forward.

Jodi yelped and tumbled backwards, only to be caught instantly by the palm of a sharply clawed hand. Those red lights, eyes Sam realized, studied her intensely as it moved to sit up properly. Sam watched in facination as Jodi stepped with the movement, migrating easily down to a leg. The move easy and intuitive, and spoke of familiarity.

Oh, holy _shit._

_"I warn you, I have a broad definition of 'strange'."_

_"That's classified."_

_She really wasn't kidding_ , Sam thought, a bit dazed.

Sam's head was was still reeling, from the lingering drugs in his system and from his injuries. His skin was still buzzing from the ebbing adrenalin high left over from the confrontation with the ghost and his two living children. All of that left him ill-equipped to process the interaction taking place before his eyes. The whole thing was surreal and he wasn't 100% sure that he wasn't hallucinating.

"Are you injured?" The giant metal-man's voice was deep, the low ideling rumble of a powerful engine, but mildly tinny. Words filtered through some sort of computer system.

"Am I injured?" Jodi repeated sharply. She made some aborted gestures with her hands, fingers clenching as if she wanted to strangle something. "I'm not the one who passed out after having his holoform sent on the fritz! What the hell happened?"

"A power surge overloaded my systems. I've never encountered anything like that before." The voice deepened further into a snarl. "The fact I was not briefed on such a life form is incredibly-"

"It wasn't," Sam found himself saying, the words pouring right out without his permission as soon as his mind put the pieces together.

All eyes fell on him, including Dean's. His brother's wide-eyed expression clearly stated what he thought about his brother's little outburst.

Jodi and _whatever the hell that wa_ s were staring like they just realized they were both standing there.

Sam swallowed around the rock suddenly lodged in his throat and made himself elaborate. "The thing that attacked Jodi and I and made your . . . holoform disappear wasn't alive. It was a spirit."

"You mean that creepy old guy was a ghost?"

Sam couldn't understand Jodi's skeptical tone whene she was just yelling at a giant robot. Absurd didn't begin to cover it.

Jodi side-stepped and did a controlled slide down a metal leg. Her face contorted into a grimace when she landed, but it disappeared quickly. There was a whisper-faint hiss of hydraulics and the screech of metal scraping against wood and rocks as Jodi's friend stood.

Dean crowded back into Sam's space until the two of them were shoulder to shoulder. Dean hissed at him under his breath. "You just had to open your damn mouth, didn't you."

Tremors shook the ground as the metal giant advanced, _radiating_ aggressiveness.

The brother's braced themselves unsure if there was any point in running.

And then Jodi was there, standing between them, whip thin and barely coming up past Sam's ribcage. She had planted herself firmly, protectively, with her back to them, and leveled a finger at the giant.

Sam couldn't help but think that the sight was a bit ridiculous.

"Leave them alone." Her tone was stone.

The giant pointed back and Sam didn't take his eyes off the tip, it's razor sharp edge gleaming in the moonlight. "Both of them have profiles with the FBI so thick it's almost impressive. The older one was legally declared deceased after a butchering spree. Plus he shot me after I found blood outside the motel room."

Sam shot his brother a look and mouthed " _really?_ ". Dean shrugged.

"Sam tried to keep me from being taken from the motel, and got a brick to the head for his trouble."

There was dead silence as they stared eachother down, and it was then that Sam saw the dark spot blooming on the back of the girl's shirt.

"Jodi, your shoulder."

An arm stretched up and over, gingerly skimming fingers over the dark spot. She looked down at her bloodied fingers and huffed. Her gaze lifted and she seemed to deflate. "'Cade, I'm sorry I didn't stay in the motel room. I know I didn't listen but can we talk about it somewhere else? We just saw a lot of crap and we're all banged up, and I'm cold. Please?"

Those glowing eyes bored into Sam, making him squirm, before returning to Jodi. "Fine. All of you follow me. You threaten my charge in any way and you won't make it to see a medic."

He stomped off and Jodi followed in his wake. She paused to look at the brothers. "You guys coming or what?"

Sam turned to his brother. Eyes wide, Dean gave a small shake of his head.

In his peripheral, Jodi shifted impatiently. If she was going to lead them to their death, she had plenty of opportunity to do so.

So he followed.

"Aw, _c'mon Sammy_! Sam? Dude, wait up!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short update for you all to show that 'The Gift' isn't completely taking over my life, plus I think you guys have waited long enough. I couldn't pass up this opportunity to show how Jodi and Barricade's interactions look to an outsider, and it was a lot of fun playing with his perspective. Next up, some 'Cade POV!
> 
> Also! Guess who got a Gold Pass to her first SPN Convention! (Dances with Happiness)
> 
> As always, thank you all for the love and the comments, and a shout out to all my silent readers as well! I appreciate you all! Happy reading everybody! -Shadow


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: The hardest thing about this chapter was actually finding a natural stopping point. It's a rare occasion when I feel a chapter is running too long, but here it is. Next up: arguing, game plans and moving the story along. Thanks for hanging in there kids! I haven't forgotten about this verse! Happy reading! - Shadow

  
"Oh my god, I forgot what being warm felt like."

Jodi's words were accompanied by a sudden blanket of relief that seeped into the link. She breathed deep and sank against the warm material of his back seat and the impression of _safety_ and _home_ were added to the mix.

Sweet Primus, it had been so long since he had shared such a connection that he needed a moment to collect himself. The emotional feed was more potent in such close quarters, and the blend of that plus contact was a heady concoction. He couldn't let himself get lost in this, couldn't let it overwhelm him.

Especially since he was almost certain that Jodi couldn't feel the link like he could.

"Don't get blood on my seats," he grumbled at her, more because she would expect it from him than actual irritation.

She lifted her hand and gave him a rude gesture, though there was nothing fueling it.

Barricade had led them all back to the road where the older Winchester had left his car, half hidden by some trees.

There was a soft knock on his passenger window. Sam Winchester stood there awkwardly, a red plastic box and a bottle of liquor in hand and something tucked under his arm. "Umm, may I come in?"

Jodi gave an annoyed kick to the back of his seat when he made no move to answer the boy. His vents cycled in defeat.

He swung open the passenger door and folded and slid the seat to allow the human access into the back seat. Smug satisfaction settled into his spark at the boy's wide eyes when he jumped back to dodge the door.

"C'mon in Sam. Ignore 'Cade, he thinks it's hilarious to scare people."

The human had the intelligence to look unsure of himself. "Uh, right." With that he climbed in, folding his legs almost comically to fit in the cramped space.

"What's with the booze?" Jodi asked, scooting to give him as much room as possible.

"Ah, we ran out of rubbing alcohol, so-" He gave the bottle a little shake. "Our back up. I also found one of my sweatshirts floating around in the trunk, just in case you were still cold."

She accepted the bundle of cloth, only to pause to run fingers over the emblem on the front, a bold S behind a pointy-looking tree. "Stanford? Dude, you were at _Stanford_?"

"Until recently, yeah."

"Holy shit." Recognition, bright and strong vibrated through the link, and Barricade really needed to dial it down if Jodi felt everything this strongly. " _That's_ why you looked so familiar! My art class was there for a field trip. You helped me pick up my stuff in front of that creepy gate statue."

The boy's face scrunched before smoothing out, his eyes lighting up. "You ran off after your phone made that aweful screeching noise. That . . . wow. I forgot about that. I'm surprised you remember, honestly."

"That week was kinda hard to forget, all things considered." Jodi's thumb absently traced the energon burn on her arm, faint echoes of _fear_ and _rage_ and _pain pain pain_ filtering through. But they faded quickly, mere phantoms of an event and nothing more."My whole life changed that week."

With a jolt he realized exactly when she was referring to. After they had been properly reunited, Jodi had told Barricade all about her class outing, and how she had thought that he had tried to contact her. Later, it was speculated that Soundwave had taken notice of the Decepticon frequency that Barricade had programed into her comm unit, leading him to track it to it's source. Which resulted in the whole mess that had followed.

He could certainly see why the surrounding days would be memorable.

Primus knew Barricade couldn't forget. Sometimes his nightmare featured Jodi lying stone still back on that beach, back laid open to her bones and beyond, blood coating everything. Other times it was Soundwave's claws piercing his armor, digging for his spark chamber.

"Anyway, let's get this over with." Jodi tapped his seat with her palm, refocusing his attention back to the present. "Hey 'Cade, can we get some light?"

Obligingly, he flicked on the cabin light, and increased the brightness for easier visibility.

"This has got to be one of the stranger situations I've been in," Sam muttered, eying the cabin warily.

"You get used to it," his charge said as she shifted around to put her back to the other human, displaying the bloodstain that had taken almost a whole quadrant of her shoulder.

With careful fingers, the taller human felt for other tender spots surrounding the source of the blood. When he found none, he lightly plucked at her shirt. "I'm going to need you to lift the back of this for me."

"Just don't get weird on me, okay? I got . . . um, I have a lot of scars."

Nerves bubbled up at the words, and Barricade realized that Jodi was being self conscious about them. That realization came as a surprise, because he thought that she had long since adjusted to them.

It was still such an odd concept to him, that scars were shameful things to be hidden from the world. When he had first realized his human was going out of her way to hide the marks on her back, he had inquired as to why. That was when he learned that many humans judged others by their skin. Permanent decals, tattoos, were often frowned upon, but deemed more or less acceptable, but someone who bore the marks of survival were avoided, or looked down upon.

He remembered his reaction once she had finished her explanation. He had placed her in front of her bedroom mirror, and ordered her to truly _look_ at herself. She was small, certainly, but she had a titanium will that had defied Autobots and Decepticons alike. She had survived an attack by one of the most terrifying officers the Decepticon army had ever produced, and had narrowly avoided being permanently crippled in the process.

He had refused to let her think less of herself for carrying a reminder of such an amazing feat.

He made a mental note to find another, more subtle way to remind her once they were back in Tranquility.

Barricade materialized his holoform in the driver's seat, smirking as it's sudden appearance earned him a flinch from Sam. Jodi rolled her eyes at his little display, but her nerves calmed when she saw him, leaving him satisfied.

"I promise not to get weird. Trust me, Dean and I have seen a lot over the years."

"Okay." Jodi took a deep shuddering breath, crossed her arms to grab the hem of her shirt before hiking it up and away until it cleared the injured area. She didn't remove it completely, but it did expose the entire expanse of her back. The three long slashed were the most prominent, the lines thick and bold but tapering at the ends. The energon burns haloed the damage done by Soundwave, bright and shiny compared to her normal skin tone.

Those had been his own doing, however accidental. He had been coated with his own energon and had forgotten how it reacted to human flesh.

Barricade observed the other human carefully, a scathing comment on the tip of his processor, should his reaction be unfavorable.

To the boy's credit, his reaction was minimal. A slight widening of the eyes before it went away completely, putting his full attention on the fresh wound on the top of her right shoulder, creating a cross-hatch on the top-most point of the slash marks left by Soundwave.

"Alright, this is going to sting." He poured some amber liquid on some gauze and pressed it firmly to the wound.

Jodi hissed, fingers digging deeper into the fabric she still had clenched in her hands.

"Sorry."

Uncomfortable with the steady stream of low level pain, Barricade decided to offer a distraction. "So what exactly is your brother doing? And may I say, he looks remarkably well for a dead man."

The boy's eyes flicked up to his holoform before returning to his task. "He's reading through the journal Jodi found back in the cellar. Hopefully it'll give us a better idea what we're dealing with. Besides the ghost, I mean. And that wasn't Dean back in St. Louis, it was a shapeshifter wearing his face."

"Right." Tonight had already been a huge strain to his processor. There had been human illusions that had enough juice to completely crash a Cypertronian holographic emitter, and monsters that were composed completely of human DNA. Why not add shapeshifters to the list of things he didn't know about Earth.

"Considering you're a sentient _car_ , I don't know why you're so skeptical."

Jodi snorted at the other human's sass, hiding a grin against her arm. Amusement seeped through the link, smoothing over his sharp spike of annoyance. His goal had been to distract after all.

Sam finished wiping the wound and then rummaged in the box. "Well, good news is that it's shallow enough not to need stitches."

Barricade narrowed his eyes at the boy. "Do you really believe I would let you touch her with a needle? Somehow, I doubt you are a fully qualified medic."

"True," the boy conceded, spreading a salve on a square of gauze and touching it gingerly to the wound. "But it's amazing what you learn to do when hospitals aren't an option. Dean has a steadier hand, but my sutures tend to be neater. Can you hold this in place?"

Jodi lifted her hand to comply, only to find that Barricade had already done so. The only word he could find that described the resulting emotion was fond. "We know all about making do with what'cha got. Right 'Cade?"

"You be quiet," he grumbled, retracting his hand as Sam applied white tape over the gauze.

She laughed.

There was an obnoxious tap on his window, drawing everyone's attention. Dean Winchester stood there, leather journal in one hand while the other made a quick rolling motion. Barricade rolled down the passenger window at Jodi's expectant look.

Scanning the pages with a finger, the elder Winchester leaned in and started talking before looking at the rest of the group. "So this some really fucked up-" His eyes flicked up and widened. " _What the hell happened to you?_ "

The emotional feed from Jodi sobered as she pulled her shirt back down and Barricade bristled in response.

Sam shoved his brother out the window with his forearm, scowling. " _Really_ Dean?"

"No, I'm serious! Dude, did you see those? How the hell is she even walking?"

Barricade was a nanosecond away from relocating his holoform to deal with the loud-mouthed human personally. Jodi grabbed the sleeve of his holoform in one hand and squeezed the back of his driver seat in the other, the dual sensation halting him and bringing his attention back to his charge. The direct contact with the girl's skin seemed to bring the link into sharper clarity, much to his dismay.

The glare she was giving the man outside was one that she usually reserved for some of the more annoying human military personel they had to deal with back on base. Her self-consciousness had morphed into irritation and a cold determination. "If it's so damned important to you, my spine was severed. The same technology that allows me to see is the only thing keeping my spine in one piece instead of five. You wanna know how long I was under the knife? How about how many stitches it took to close me back up?"

Dean held his hands up in surrender. "Whoa, sorry! No offense kid, but usually when we encounter what looks like a miracle there's something dark behind it." His eyes shifted to Barricade as a whole, and then to the glaring eyes of his holoform. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around mustang-man over here. Between that and this crap," he holds up the journal, "My brain is officially tapped on dealing with impossible shit, okay?"

Barricade was still bristling, but Sam seemed to zero in on something his brother said. "What did you find out?"

Dean huffed through his nose, before cracking open the journal and flipping quickly through the pages. "Well, I found out what we're dealing with for one." He stopped on a page, flipped the journal around to present to he brother. "We are dealing with a bona fide homunculus."

"No way." Sam froze before scrambling forward to snatch up the book. "Dad never found a case with a real one. Besides, it's way too big!"

The older Winchester stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, well, we apparently managed to find the best one ever made. Old man Casper was a third generation alchemist. He died creating the damn thing using as much of his own body as he could before he-" Dean drew a thumb across his neck.

"What's a homunculus?" Jodi asked Sam, her curiosity echoing off of Barricade's.

"It's an unnatural sentient construct, kinda like manufacturing a person-shaped monster," Sam answered promptly, eyes glued to the pages as he hastily scanned them. "The creator takes skin and hair and a whole bunch of other disgusting things to make one, but they're usually small enough to fit into a pickle jar. But all the manuscripts I've read claimed that they're extremely fragile. It's not supposed to take much to kill them." The boy's lips pressed together in a firm line.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Thank you, College Boy."

"So- what? The reason it pops up as human on 'Cade's sensors is that it's _made_ from bits of human?" Mild levels of disgust and horror bled into the link as Jodi absorbed that.

"Most likely, yeah."

"That's so gross. How do you guys even know this stuff? About the ghosts and the shapeshifters?"

Sam looked up from the journal, but it was Dean that piped up from outside. "Family business kid. We were raised on this crap."

"What I want to know is why they are collecting bodies." Sam muttered, back to flipping pages.

"Harvesting," Jodi pitched in, "That's what they called it when they took Renee." Those words came with a wave of _guilt_ and _regret_ , and a sense of _wrong wrong wrong_ reverberated from Jodi's very core.

"Who's Renee?" Dean asked. Barricade was glad he did so, it saved him the debate on whether or not he should.

"A local woman," Sam answered. "She got dragged away before we were able to escape."

_Guilt_. "We shouldn't have left without her," Jodi's voice was quiet but sharp, and clearly directed at Sam. It was clear the two of them had some sort of conflict over it.

"There wasn't anything that we could do for her. If we tried there was a good chance we wouldn't have made it out."

Jodi's jaw clenched but she didn't say anything, her emotions swirling enough that Barricade had a hard time discerning them. Not that he was trying too hard at the moment.

"Okay! So let's see what we got," Dean clapped his hands and then began ticking off fingers. "We have the ghost of the dead alchemist. We have the homunculus. We have the alchemist's _very_ human son. Plus the string of people they keep nabbing and butchering."

Jodi's thoughts all shifted to a diamond-hard point, focused and resolute, and the bottom of Barricade's fuel tank dropped when he realized what she was going to say.

"So. How do we help?"


End file.
